Fairest: An Untold Story
by PunishmentFactor
Summary: Since the beginning of One Piece, she has been one of the most scorned and disrespected characters of the whole story, but now we are led through a strange and corrupted tale of revenge, forgiveness and beauty, along with a pairing never written before.
1. Chapter 1

**You have clicked into the story and now I, the author, ask you one thing. **

**Please do not read this fanfiction. **

**Okay, you're probably thinking, "Wtf? I clicked the title and want to read this." No, you really don't. **

**First of all I'm surprised you clicked in the first place with its horrid melodramatic summary. But, whatever, you clicked it. And now I, the author, advise you to click the back button and find yourself another story. Why? Why am I, the author condemning my own fanfic? Because it's downright terrible! That's why! Bear with me, and read some of this.**

**I wrote this fanfiction at a very, young age when I was brimming with ideas of romance, drama, adventure, passion, revenge, redemption, and my newly discovered OTP. My dream was to write a passionate story in which the main character underwent a perilous journey of death, revenge, remorse, metamorphosis, inner beauty, romance, redemption and forgiveness, where she would emerge victorious and be loved by all One Piece fans and my OTP would be adored and shipped everywhere. I was young. I was, inexperienced. My writing on the concepts of revenge, forgiveness, beauty, love and forgiveness were…immature. And so I produced "****Fairest: An Untold Story****."**

**I am not proud of Fairest. I now prefer to think of it as "****Fairest: The Better Left Untold Fanfiction****." But my young, very inexperienced writer self was exceptionally proud of Fairest. Only now I look back in retrospect and my only thoughts are of revulsion and "I wrote that **_**crap?**_**"**

**But Fairest holds deep sentimentality for me. The entire project of multiple drafts, research, editing, typing and posting took me nearly two years. And it was the first writing project of such that I had managed to complete. Despite its insipid content and childish ideals about "beauty, romance, and redemption" I can't make myself to delete it. It holds a great deal of memory about my early days as a One Piece fan, and my early days as a writer. And so, it stays up here, because a part of me loves and it wants it to remain.**

**But…if you like sappy love stories that drip with clichés and overused tragic childhood plotlines, if you like soap opera scenes with wooden dialogue and forced romanticism, if you like characters no one writes about, or you like seeing other characters written very OOC, if you love badly written torture scenes, poorly contrived plot twists, gaping plot holes, heavy doses of angst and plenty of inconsistencies, they hey! This fic is for you! Go right ahead and get your first dose of badly written angst in the prologue! But for most readers…I advise you to hit the back button now. Thank you. Enjoy.**

**~Scarlet**

* * *

Prologue

The young woman stared out the barred window of her cell. A faint glimmer of moonlight trickled in. It was dark, and it was cold, but tonight seemed so much more so. But everything would be over tomorrow. By this time tomorrow, she would be dead. And so would he, the one she loved. What she wouldn't give to see him right now.

And then there was the boy. She wished he could somehow reconcile with him before her tomorrow. Maybe even tell him her name. Then it wouldn't hurt so much when he learned the truth tomorrow. It didn't matter. Either way, he would still hate her, and she would still die.

She had wrestled with her thoughts so many nights before there almost wasn't anything left to think about. Just him, and the boy.

She fought against the tears burning beneath her eyelids, but it was no use. One fell down her cheek, and then another.

"But I don't want to die." She murmured aloud to the silence of her cell. It gave her nothing but silence back.

She sighed. There was nothing she could do to stop tomorrow.

Suddenly, she heard the scrape of a key in the lock.

She hoped it was the boy.

* * *

Part I

It was a bright summer day. Absolutely perfect, and two young children were chasing gleefully after each other, racing one another to the beach.

The girl, was tall for her age, with long wavy black hair that bounced merrily about her shoulders as ran. She had dark, emerald eyes that sparkled and laughed with happiness and she was freckled from many days in the sun. She always complained about her freckles, but she was actually very pretty, and she knew it.

The boy was about the same age as the girl. His blue eyes also laughed, and his sandy blonde hair was messy and windswept after chasing after the girl.

"Come on Coby, you slowpoke!" The girl called over her shoulder to the boy as she ran. "You're not going to let me win again, are you?"

"We'll see who the slowpoke is when I beat you!" said the boy, Coby. The boy's full name was actually Cobyashi, but to the girl he was simply and affectionately Coby.

But the girl's longer legs were much of an advantage to her, and she easily beat Coby to the beach.

"Ha! I win!" she exclaimed happily, falling back on the sand. She kicked off her sandals and let the sand slide between her toes. She always loved the way it felt.

"How many times have I beaten you now Coby?" asked the girl as he fell down breathless beside her, setting down the picnic basket he was carrying.

"No fair! I let you win!" said Coby, kicking off his sandals as well.

"Then how many times is it now that you've let me win?" the girl asked. "Or do you just not want to admit a girl beat you?" she giggled happily.

"I could beat you any day if I really wanted to!" said Coby.

"Could not!"

"Could to!"

"Could not!"

Coby took a deep breath and sighed.

"Alright." he said, finally. "I admit it. You beat me, Alvida."

Alvida smiled prettily.

"Why thank you Coby." she said, grinning broadly. "So tell me, who is the fairest maiden on all the seas?"

"Why do you always insist on asking me that?" asked Coby. "You know I'll always give you the same answer. Besides, I wouldn't want to end up like Takeshi did the other day."

Alvida flushed.

"I had to beat him up." she said. "He told me I was ugly."

"Exactly." said Coby. "If I told you anything otherwise I'd be afraid for my life."

"But really Coby." said Alvida, staring at him, her eyes wide. "Do you really mean it, when you tell me?"

"Of course I do." said Coby consolingly. "Miss Alvida, you are _indeed_ the fairest maiden on all the seas."

Alvida smiled. It was their little game, between her and Coby, and they played it often.

"Thank you, Coby." she said happily. "I feel much better now."

"Are you ever going to apologize to Takeshi?"

"No."

Coby laughed. They were both quiet, watching the sunshine reflect off the water and pointing out various shapes the clouds were forming. Alvida had begun eating all the cookies out of Coby's picnic basket.

Suddenly from out of nowhere, a strange, red streak sailed across the sky, almost like a bird, or a kite interrupting the peaceful bliss white clouds.

"What was that?" asked Alvida sitting up as Coby did likewise.

"Some sort of bird, maybe?" said Coby. "I don't think that was a cloud."

"Clouds aren't red, silly." said Alvida. "It had to have been a bird."

They were right. Seconds later, a beautiful, swan-like bird with brilliant scarlet plumage landed gracefully on the water.

"It's beautiful." Alvida murmured in awe. "Look at its feathers."

"I've read about those!" said Coby with excitement. "They're called a Scarlet Albatross. They're supposedly from the Grand Line, but it's even rare to see one there. They're water birds, and can dive really deep underwater too. They're also supposedly really strong."

"A Scarlet Albatross." repeated Alvida, gazing at the bird.

"Look! It's diving for fish!" said Coby pointing as it vanished beneath the surface of the water.

"I wonder what its doing out here." said Alvida. "If it lives in the Grand Line."

"Maybe it's lost." suggested Coby.

The Scarlet Albatross resurfaced, holding an enormous fish in its beak.

"Maybe it wanted East Blue fish for a change." said Alvida shrugging as the bird swallowed the fish and dove back down again. They continued to watch it as it dove for fish.

Suddenly, after one particularly long dive, the bird burst up, thrashing about in the water, and then sank. I broke the surface again, struggling to stay afloat.

"Something's wrong with it!" cried Alvida. "We have to help it!"

She and Coby ran for the water. They quickly swam out to where the bird was struggling, but kept their distance, not wanting to scare it.

"Look!" said Coby. "Its neck's caught in a fishing net!" Alvida could see the mesh encircling its throat.

They quickly swam closer. The Scarlet Albatross eyed with yellow eyes them as it struggled to stay above the water, its breaths ragged.

It scared Alvida to be so close to such a fierce creature but she knew she had to help it and it was no time to be scared. She could tell it wouldn't be able to hold out much longer.

"It's okay." she crooned softy to it, doing her best to return its fierce gaze. "We just want to help."

"Coby, give me your knife, and hold it while I cut free." said Alvida, and Coby quickly handed Alvida the pocket knife he always carried. He then carefully placed his arms around the great bird. It squawked and flapped in protest, but then quieted.

Alvida quickly set to work cutting the net. The bird watched her out of those chilling yellow eyes, but she kept at it.

She almost had the bird entirely free when a huge wave sprang up and drenched the three of them. Soaked in water, Coby lost his hold and the Scarlet Albatross and it began to struggle anew.

In the confusion, the knife slipped, and Alvida struck the bird in the neck. Alvida gasped as the bird shrieked in agony.

"Hold onto it Coby!" cried Alvida. "It's almost free!"

She carefully pulled the knife from the bird's neck. A thin trickle of blood began to snake it down its slender neck.

Alvida seized the lat bit of the net and cut through it, freeing the bird.

The instant it was free, the Scarlet Albatross burst from the water and sailed into the sky. It soared over a high, rocky ledge, adjacent to the beach.

"I hope I didn't hurt it too badly." said Alvida, staring at the flecks of blood dotting her hands, scarlet as the bird's plumage had been. She shivered slightly.

"It would have drowned without us." said Coby. "Come on, let's follow it up that ledge, maybe it has a nest or something!"

They swam quickly back to shore and hurried to climb the ledge the Scarlet Albatross had flown over. The rocks were hardly steep, and being experienced at climbing trees, Alvida quickly and effortless made it to the top of the ledge with Coby right behind her.

They found themselves on a rocky plateau, looking out over the beach and at the mouth of a large cave. The Scarlet Albatross was no where in sight, but a large red feather lay on the ground at their feet.

"It was here." said Alvida, bending to pick up the feather. "We just weren't fast enough."

"Look at this" she murmured, running her fingers along the feather. "It's beautiful. It's such a lovely shade of red, and it's soft too."

"Come on!" said Coby eagerly. "I've never been up here before! I want to explore this cave!" He ran into the cave, and Alvida quickly followed, still clutching the feather.

They ran in together, when Coby stopped short and Alvida nearly ran into him.

"Look!" cried Coby. "Look Alvida! You'll never believe this!"

And at first Alvida didn't.


	2. Chapter 2

Alvida gaped at the scene before her.

Sitting just a few feet in front of them, illuminated by the sunshine that was trickling in, was an enormous pile of treasure.

Alvida blinked, and rubbed her eyes. The treasure was real.

"Look at this!" cried Coby, diving right into the treasure and rummaging through it. He unearthed a beautiful sword with jewels set into the handle and stared at in wonder.

"I wonder how it all got here." said Alvida dazedly sitting down and beginning to rifle through the treasure as well, reluctant to believe they had just discovered a fortune. "It looks like it could be pirate treasure judging by all the weapons here as well."

Coby nodded in agreement.

"Oh, wow! Look at this!" he said, suddenly holding up an elegant gold necklace set with an emerald pendant, and a matching bracelet.

"You should wear these!" he said handing them to Alvida.

"Oh, I couldn't." Alvida murmured staring at the jewelry but before she could protest further, Coby had slipped the necklace over her head. He then took her hand and slipped the bracelet onto it.

"Hang on." said Coby, rummaging through treasure again. "I'm sure there's a mirror somewhere in all this."

"Oh, it's alright Coby-" Alvida began, blushing.

"Here we go!" said Coby triumphantly holding up a gold hand mirror. He handed it to Alvida who took reluctantly.

"Oh my." she murmured, admiring herself. The jewelry was much too old for her, but she loved the way it looked. She shot Coby a mischievous grin.

"Oh, Coby," she giggled. "Who is the fairest maiden on all the seas?"

"Why you of course, Miss Alvida." said Coby with an elegant bow.

"That's Lady Alvida to you now." she said with a smile.

"Oh, so you've decided you're _Lady _Alvida now, is that right?" said Coby, laughing. "What's next, _queen?_"

"Hey captain, this is where we left all the treasure."

Alvida and Coby froze at the sound of deep unfamiliar voices outside.

"Pirates!" whispered Alvida frantically. "We have to get out of here."

"We can't." Coby whispered back, "They're right outside. We have to try and hide."

They crouched low in the shadows in the back of the cave, as far back from the treasure as they could.

Two pirates entered the cave. The taller one, seemingly the captain, carried a large weapon over his shoulder that greatly intrigued Alvida, despite the seriousness of the situation. She stared in fascination at how he could carry such a weapon so casually and effortlessly.

"Well now Ryoshi." said the captain. "This is quite impressive. Start bringing it back to the ship right away."

The other pirate began scooping large handfuls of treasure into a chest and then left the cave. The captain paused for moment, to inspect a few pieces of the treasure and then followed the other out.

Alvida and Coby waited for a moment before they were certain the footsteps of the two pirates had died away before they stood up.

"That was too close." said Coby. "We need to get out of here before they come back again."

"What was that weapon the captain had been carrying?" asked Alvida with interest. "I've never seen anything like it before."

"Some sort of spiked club, I don't know." said Coby with a shrug. "Why?"

"It's called a mace, boy."

Coby and Alvida spun around in terror to find the captain staring down at them.

"Well what have we here?" he said with a wry chuckle. "You thought you two would come up here and play pirates, now did you?"

"Please, we didn't touch anything." said Alvida, trying to keep from staring in fascination at the mace the pirate was carrying. "We won't tell the Navy or anyone. We promise."

"I can't trust a couple of brats like you." said the captain with a laugh. "And don't lie to me." he continued, bending down to Alvida's level. She tried not to shake as he ran his finger along her neck before taking hold of the gold necklace.

"A girl your age doesn't wear such fancy jewelry." he said contemptuously, yanking it from her neck.

Alvida felt hot tears spring to her eyes, more from fear than anything else. Coby jumped in front of her, spreading his arms wide to protect her.

"Don't touch Alvida!" he yelled. "Take your damn treasure and leave!"

"Coby, please." said Alvida. "It's alright."

She walked out from behind Coby to address the pirate captain.

"What kind of weapon did you say that was?" she asked, in an attempt at polite curiosity. "A mace, was it? It's lovely."

She hoped she could maybe flatter her way out of the situation.

"Lovely, you say?" he sneered. "You've got funny interests for a girl. Proper young ladies don't prattle with weaponry."

"All the same," said Alvida, trying to distract him for as long as she could. "What is it made of?"

"It's made of iron, and the tips are pure silver."

"How do you use it?" Alvida continued in fascination.

"You use it like this." he said, with a wicked smile.

Alvida realized a split second what he was about to do. She was too scared to move, as he raised the mace.

Coby seized Alvida and pushed her out of the way, right before the mace was about to strike her.

It struck him instead.

Coby screamed as the spikes ripped through his body and he fell to the ground, broken and bleeding at the captain's feet.

"Silly boy." he said indifferently. "He wouldn't have gotten killed if he hadn't gotten in the way.

Alvida stared from Coby to the pirate and his bloody mace, frozen in shock and terror on the ground where she had fallen, tears pouring freely down her cheeks.

"_Coby, you can't be dead…"_

The pirate then dropped the mace casually, and grabbed Alvida with both hands.

"I've changed my mind about you, pretty." he sneered. "You'll come with me. I know several people who would pay quite well for the services of a lass like you."

Alvida fought madly to break his grip. She managed to twist one hand away and groped around for anything to defend herself with.

To her surprise she felt her hand close around the handle of the mace that the pirate had dropped seconds before.

With sheer rage she broke free of the pirate's grasp and swung the mace with every ounce of strength she had. It hit him in the face, and he screamed. He lunged for her and missed, blinded by the blood clogging his eyes. Screaming curses at Alvida, he staggered off the edge of the rock ledge. Alvida watched as his body fell down the rocks before landing sprawled and broken on the beach.

But he wasn't dead. The pirate who had gone to back to the ship earlier came running towards him, and helped the captain rise to his feet. She could see their ship in the distant harbor, and watched as they made their way across the beach, staining the sand with blood in their wake.

Alvida dropped the mace, shaking. She couldn't believe what she had done.

"Alvida…"

Alvida spun around, relief flooding through her. Coby wasn't dead, everything would be alright now. She knelt down beside him, cradling his head in her lap.

"It's alright, don't worry." she murmured gently. "You shouldn't have jumped in the way Coby. But they won't bother us anymore. I'll take you home, and then you'll be alright."

"W-what happened?" he said, staring up at her with unfocused eyes.

"I hit him, with that mace." she managed to say.

Coby laughed weakly.

"Iron Mace Alvida, the fairest maiden on all the seas."

"What are you talking about Coby?" asked Alvida.

Coby's eyelids fluttered a moment, before his blue eyes began to cloud with gray.

"You really are…the fairest maiden on all the seas." he murmured, before his eyes closed.

"Lady Alvida…"

"Coby! Cobyashi!!" Alvida screamed, tears pouring down her face. "Please don't die!!"

It was no use. Alvida stared down at the limp, lifeless body she was holding. Trembling, her vision blurred by tears, she leaned close to him and pressed her lips to his.

"Cobyashi, I promise," Alvida murmured to his blank face. "That I will find who did this to you. I will make him suffer, and I will kill him by his own weapon."

She clutched the body of her best friend who had just died in her arms, while unbeknownst to her; a beautiful scarlet bird watched over her.


	3. Chapter 3

Part II

Several years passed since the death of Cobyashi, and Alvida blossomed into a tall, strong and beautiful young woman. But she had changed greatly from the sweet and happy child of before. The experience had scarred her. The sparkle was gone from her eyes, and in its place, cold shards of emerald, and the laughter and smile was gone from her lips. She was certainly not disliked within her village however, many of the boys had appealed to her, but she coldly refused them all.

She had brought Cobyashi's body back to the village, but she had never returned to the cave, despite the treasure that remained there. All she had kept was the mace, and the bracelet Cobyashi had given her. She promised herself that she would reclaim necklace as well when Cobyashi was avenged, and she now wore the feather of the Scarlet Albatross in a large, elegant hat.

Often, Alvida would go down to the village tavern and listen to the merchant sailors who would come in from the village port and tell of their so-called "adventures" at sea. But unlike the easily entertained youths of the village, Alvida didn't come for the far-fetched stories. She came only to listen closely to any hint or mentioning of the pirate who killed Cobyashi.

One day as Alvida found herself down in the tavern, drinking her usual glass of wine, (which she had taken to drinking for no particular reason.) and ignoring the terribly flirtatious boys when a sailor by the name of Ipponmashi burst in.

"I finally have a real adventure to tell!" he cried jovially. "It's true this time! I swear!"

Ipponmashi was a fairly successful merchant, he had sailed all over the East Blue to all sorts of remote islands with various weapons to buy or sell. But he always came back telling such hopeless lies that couldn't fool even the most gullible village boy.

"Oh please." said the bartender, passing him a drink. "What was it this time? Did Sea-Cows from the Grand Line attack you again?"

"Oh, let's hear him out, just for a laugh." said Alvida casually, as she was willing to listen to even the most unlikely of stories to see if she discern and ounce of truth buried beneath the fabrications.

"Well," Ipponmashi began eagerly. "My crew and I were looking for someplace to stop and restock on supplies. We found an odd little island, not on any of our maps. It looked fairly deserted, but we thought we'd go and have a look around. It turns out it was filled with pirates! There had to be maybe a thousand men or so! My crew fought valiantly, but we barely made it back to the ship with our lives! And the captain…"

His voice trailed off with a slightly melodramatic shudder.

"He had the face of a demon!"

The various patrons of the bar laughed, but Alvida was now hanging on Ipponmashi's every word.

"Why?" she asked, her voice a forced calm. "Was he horribly scarred or disfigured?"

Ipponmashi nodded dramatically.

"His face looked as if it had been split open by a massive weapon of some sort. And it had these great massive holes in it, and..."

"Where did you say this happened?" Alvida cut him off in a voice of forced calm.

"A supposedly deserted island in the northern parts of the East Blue." said Ipponmashi, shrugging. "It wasn't indicated on any of our maps, which was why we were so curious."

He pulled out a small map and showed it to Alvida, who looked on intently.

"Right out here." he said, marking a spot on the map with a quill from his pocket.

Alvida stared at the spot in grim and determined fascination. It was hardly a guarantee, there were many pirates scarred from their various encounters on the sea, but it a risk she was more than willing to take.

"Do you think I could borrow this map?" she asked Ipponmashi as casually as she could.

"You can have it." said Ipponmashi, taking a long sip from his drink and handing the map to her. "That trip was my last. I'm tired of sailing around. I've got some family in Loguetown, I think I'll go there. Get married, settle down. Maybe I'll sell weapons there, rather than traveling around the whole East Blue."

Alvida held the map with shaking hands.

"You're not planning to go there, are you?" Ipponmashi asked suddenly. "Those pirates wouldn't spare a girl like you just for her good looks. What would you do there anyway? Go sightseeing?" he added with a chuckle.

"I think I just might." said Alvida, not taking her eyes from the map. Without another word she abruptly stood up and left the tavern, leaving Ipponmashi slightly bewildered behind her.

Alvida strode quickly down the path from the bar leading to the village port. She had planned for this day almost her whole life and had made sure everything would be ready so she could leave immediately whenever the day might come.

She arrived at the port and walked down the line of boats docked there. At the end of the line of large and elegantly-made ships she saw what she was looking for. A small, one-man boat was bobbing serenely in the water, dwarfed by the much grander ships that had preceded it. The boat had taken five years to build, and had waited patiently down at the dock for several more to serve its purpose.

Alvida climbed aboard her simple, yet quaint little boat and entered its one small cabin. A hammock was slung between two sturdy wooden poles in one corner. Navigational instruments lay on a small table off to the side, accompanied by a few books. Spare clothes and other necessities such as money had been laid out in a small chest along with a sack of extra provisions and food. And then there was iron mace, leaning against the wall in a corner by itself. Alvida had trained and practiced with it for years, preparing herself to fight, but once she had finished the boat she had left it there.

After laying the map on the table she strode over to the far wall and picked up the mace for the first time in years. It felt oddly light to her, the surface of its handle was surprisingly warm, and its silver tips sparkled even in the dim light.

Still gripping the mace, she walked out onto the deck and leaned momentarily against the railing to look at the figurehead: a beautiful bird with deep red plumage and a gold necklace hanging from its throat. Alvida was no artist, but she had attempted to carve the figurehead into the likeness of the Scarlet Albatross. And the necklace of course, she had vowed to reclaim. She took off her hat for a moment and ran her fingers along the silky red feather. It had always been a source of comfort.

Alvida then raised her mace, and severed the rope binding her ship to the dock. She then turned to look back at the tiny village that had been her home all her life.

"Goodbye Cobyashi." she whispered. And then a strong breeze lifted the sail, and Alvida began her journey.

* * *

Alvida spent the next week or so sailing. It was painfully lonely, but she was more than used to it. She stopped only once at a small town she had found along the way to stretch her legs and buy extra supplies before she set off again.

Around the middle of her second week at sea, she came across a small and very remote island. Checking her compass and Ipponmashi's map, she realized she had come to her destination.

"_I'm here."_ she thought, her hand shaking as she held the map.

She didn't know whether to feel excited or terrified. It was more a feeling of grim determination that came over her. Even if this wasn't the pirate she was looking for, she could continue to sail for as long as she needed to.

Once at shore, Alvida tied her boat to a large rock, as it didn't have an anchor. The island didn't seem that all that big, but it was covered in trees and various foliage and honestly seemed to be for the most part deserted. But she knew she would have to be on her guard and not let it lure her into a false sense of security.

Taking her mace with her, Alvida wandered the island for a good half hour or so, but found absolutely no sign there could be pirates. The whole situation made her uncomfortable, but she was starting to get tired and decided to sit down and rest somewhere.

"_If I can't find them,"_ she thought, sitting down against a large tree and closing her eyes. _"Then I'll just have to let them find me."_


	4. Chapter 4

Alvida awoke blearily to the sound of several unfamiliar voices.

"I wonder how she got here."

"Who cares? Let's just slit her throat and leave her here."

"I've got a better idea. Let's take her back to the captain. Maybe he'll let us have fun with her."

Alvida opened her eyes and saw that a small group of pirates had gathered around her little tree and were all staring at her with a mixture of curiosity and lust.

"Idiot! You woke her up!" said one with dirty blonde hair pushing the pirate next to him.

"Don't call me an idiot!" snarled the other. "She would have woke up sooner or later."

"I'm first mate, I'll call you what I want." said the first one.

He bent down and leaned close to Alvida, who winced at his putrid breath. He seemed somewhat familiar, but Alvida couldn't place him at the moment.

"You're a pretty one." he said with a grin, reaching out to stroke Alvida's cheek with a long and filthy fingernail. "What's a fair young lass like you doing out here on our island? You must be quite far from home. You can tell us pretty. We won't hurt you, much." he added with a chuckled as the rest of the pirates laughed.

Alvida slapped his hand away in disgust.

"I'm here to see your captain." she said, she said boldly, while brushing her cheek off with the back of her hand.

The pirates roared with laughter, especially the first mate.

"Well, aren't you a feisty young wench!" he laughed. "But in case you haven't noticed, you're in no position to making demands of us. Why exactly do you want to see the captain? And what's your name anyway?"

"My name is Lady Alvida." said Alvida, throwing in the title she had given herself as a child on a whim. "And it's none of your business why I want to see your captain."

The pirates continued to laugh, the first mate still being loudest of them all.

"Oh, _Lady_ Alvida, is it now?" he said with a mocking smile. "Well, I'm the captain's first mate, and my name's Ryoshi. No one goes to see him without my permission, which I'm afraid you don't have. But I'm sure we can find a way to let you make his acquaintance."

He produced a length of rope and tossed it to one of his crewmates.

"Tie her up." he commanded. "_Then_ we'll take her to see the captain."

Alvida stood up and shouldered her mace. The crew back away in alarm, murmuring in stunned surprise.

She pointed the mace at the Ryoshi. She could now remember seeing him briefly back in the cave before the captain had sent him back to the ship. There was now no longer any doubt in her mind that she was in the right place.

"If I beat you in a fight, then you'll take me to your captain, on _my_ terms." she said. "If you win, you may take me anyway you want."

Ryoshi gaped at the mace.

"That mace…" he murmured.

Alvida smiled.

"Do you think you can win against your captain's own weapon?" she whispered.

"Where did you get that?" he murmured, his eyes wide.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" she retorted. "If you beat me, then you may take my weapon as well."

The crew backed away, forming a circle for the two of them to fight, and Ryoshi drew two deadly looking cutlasses.

"I don't know how you came by that mace." Ryoshi sneered at her, haven shaken off the shock of seeing it. "But I'm not so weak that a woman could beat me."

It was a fairly short fight. Alvida met Ryoshi's cutlasses head on and then parried and ducked to strike him in the stomach. Though she drew blood it wasn't enough to end the fight. Their weapons met again, only this time rather than parrying, Alvida kept her mace locked with both his swords. The mace was by far a larger and heavier weapon, and she used its sheer weight to her advantage. She put all her strength into the mace, as Ryoshi was struggling to keep his swords locked within the mace's spikes, but the size and weight of the mace was overpowering against weapons so much smaller.

One of his swords shattered against the weight, throwing him off-balance on knocking him into the ground. The other sword arced through the air, and Alvida deftly caught it. She pointed both weapons, holding the mace one-handed, directly at Ryoshi's throat, as he lay flat on his back staring up at her.

"That was too easy." she said calmly. "I could kill you now, and I would truly relish it."

She brought his sword close to his face, directly between his eyes, wide and bloodshot with fear.

"But I won't."

She instead dropped the mace and broke Ryoshi's cutlass clean in half over her knee.

"Get up you coward." she snarled, tossing the broken pieces into his face. "And take me to your captain."


	5. Chapter 5

It soon became apparent to Alvida that the island was a lot larger than it had first appeared. She had been following alongside Ryoshi for what seemed like hours. He avoided her eyes and said nothing to her. The rest of the crew followed far behind giving Alvida a wide berth.

_"Cowards." _she thought scornfully.

A glimmer of sunlight appeared through thick canopy of trees, and Alvida found herself walking out onto a bright and sunny beach. It occurred to her that they were on the other side of the island.

It _also_ occurred to her that there was a rather large ship anchored on the shore. Its flag and sails bore the skull and crossbones.

Ryoshi told Alvida to wait on the beach while he climbed aboard to speak with the captain. The rest of the crew waited back at a distance, sorely afraid of Alvida.

She saw the captain walked out onto the ship's deck. She couldn't see his face, but she could hear most of the conversation as Ryoshi spoke with him.

"So now Ryoshi, there's a young woman who wants to speak with me? What for? It's been quite awhile since I've had business with a woman, if you know what I mean."

"It's not what you think, Captain. She…I told her if she wanted to talk to you then she'd have to beat me in fight."

"Don't tell me…my first mate? How?"

There was a pause. Alvida listened intently, trying to get a good look at the captain's face.

"Captain…she has a mace."

Alvida was getting impatient, and was about to speak up, when the captain broke away from his whispered conference and descended the ship's gangplank.

He started towards Alvida, and she saw as his face come into full relief. She almost took a step back, but held her ground. There was no doubt in her mind, that this was the pirate who had murdered Cobyashi.

The entire left side of his face was blackened and mangled, and jagged lines showed where the spikes of her mace had dug in. Deadened folds of skin hung limp by where an eye _should _have been, but Alvida had clearly succeeded in gouging out his whole eye, along with half of his face.

Alvida stared in repulsion at the mottled and blackened skin, unable to take her eyes away, held there in sick fascination, and unable to believe what she had been capable of doing at such a young age.

"I'm quite a pretty one, ain't I?" he said, with a laugh at Alvida's shocked expression. "Just like you. Well now pretty, you bested my first mate, now what is it you want from me? What is your business here, as Ryoshi says? Don't be shy pretty lass, speak up."

Alvida took a deep breath and swallowed her fear.

"I have a score to settle with you." she said as boldly as she could. "You killed my best friend, and I'm here to repay you for it."

"I've killed many people." he said with exaggerated patience. "If you would be more specific maybe I could remember you or this, dear friend whose life I seem to have taken." He gave her a cold smile, displaying to Alvida that she had also managed to knockout and break several of his crooked teeth.

"Does this by any chance, look familiar?" asked Alvida, raising the mace, and shouldering it.

The captain's one eye widened and he made as if he was about to step back, but stopped himself.

"Ah yes." he said in a voice of what seemed to be forced calm. "Ryoshi did mention you had a mace. A rather unique weapon, eh? Where did you come by it?"

"It is a rather interesting story." said Alvida. "You see, my friend and I had accidentally stumbled upon a cave filled with treasure. We had been simply playing around, when two pirates walked in. I remember one of them was named Ryoshi. He left quickly though, to bring the treasure back to the ship, I think."

She saw Ryoshi turn pale out of the corner of her eye.

"We were unfortunately discovered by the captain. I had been wearing a gold necklace, which he took from me, leaving me with this bracelet."

She extended her hand to display the small gold beads encircling her wrist. The captain stared at her, and Alvida saw his hand move to a small pouch at his waist, from which various beads and jewels were dangling.

"He was about to kill me," Alvida continued. "When my friend jumped in the way and took the blow from the mace he was carrying. _This _mace, in fact." she added with a nod to the weapon on her shoulder. "After he had killed my friend, he attempted to kidnap me, saying something about selling me off somewhere, but I managed to break free and grab his mace after he had dropped it. I then struck at his face as hard as I could, not really realizing what I was doing. He then fell off the ledge and onto the beach below, where I watched his first mate take him back to his ship."

The captain stared at her in horror.

"You're that girl!" he cried, pointing an accusatory finger at Alvida. "That mad girl, from that village and that little cave! The one who was so interested in weapons! You've spent the rest of your life planning vengeance, haven't you?! It just wasn't enough taking my weapon, was it? You look just like her, only older, those dark green eyes, and your hair. You've made my life hell, you bitch!"

"It's Alvida." Alvida said coolly.

"Wait a minute Captain," said one of the crew suddenly. "You told us that you got ambushed by a bunch of Marines the day you went to that village with Ryoshi."

"Has he been telling you all a tale of grandeur and bravery at the hands of the Navy?" Alvida laughed scornfully. "No, he fled from his own weapon in the hands of a mere child." She pointed at herself with a smile.

"But that's beside the point." she continued, her voice becoming harsh. "You killed me best friend, and I'm here to avenge him. By the end of today, one of us will lay dead on this beach."

The pirate captain now stared at Alvida, breathing heavily.

"If it's a fight you want girl, you'll get one. But I think you'll find I won't be brought down so easily as Ryoshi. I don't intend on being the one lying dead on this beach."

He drew a long and lethal looking blade, much larger and stronger looking than Ryoshi's.

"And I don't intend to die by my own weapon either."

Without warning he charged at Alvida. Caught off guard, he slashed at her across the midriff. She barely had enough time to jump aside, but not without getting grazed in the side by the long blade. She spun around and met his sword head on the way she had Ryoshi's and attempted to parry and score a hit, but the captain jumped out of the way and her mace met only air.

She tried to contemplate the situation. He was much faster and stronger than Ryoshi and herself at that. His weapon allowed him more agility and speed, rather than Alvida's large and heavy mace.

She had stood still too long. She tried to jump aside, but she felt a searing pain in her left arm and felt blood trickling down it, but her right hand gripped the mace even tighter. She spun around and met the captain's sword again, but this time was fast enough to duck and score a hit in his side. She saw spots of blood appear against his clothing, but she know she would have to strike much harder to even have a hope of making a significant wound.

For what seemed like hours they continued to fight. They both were scoring equal hits on one another, and bruised and bleeding in multiple places. The fight was to the death, and they both knew it.

But sheer fatigue and overexertion were beginning to take their toll on Alvida, as she predicted they would. The mace was indeed a larger and much heavier weapon, and it took much more strength and stamina to hold it, as oppose to the sword she was facing. The mace was not a weapon to be used for long periods of time, or in long drawn-out fights, considering the effort needed to wield it. It was becoming immensely tiring and Alvida felt she couldn't continue much longer. She would have to strike a critical hit soon or she would take one.

She took one.

As the captain made a particularly viscous strike for her legs, Alvida leapt aside and tried to parry, but not before the sword managed to slice through her ankle. She fell, and the captain took this opportunity to stab at her exposed stomach.

Searing pain ran through her, and Alvida fell, hand clutching at her stomach in a vain attempt to stem the flow of blood. She tried to stand, but was kicked her back down and she found herself staring up into the horrific face of the captain.

She tried to raise her mace, but the captain stepped on her wrist and Alvida heard a sickening crack as she felt it break and her fingers go slack around its handle.

The captain bent over and picked up the mace.

"It feels good to have my weapon back." he said, his hideous features twisting into a truly evil smile.

He raised the mace and struck Alvida, right where he had succeeded in injuring her moments before.

Alvida couldn't help herself as she screamed as the mace tore through her open wound. Tears of pain streamed from her eyes, as her vision began to swim before her.

"I thought you might have had me a few moments there," the captain snarled. "But now you can go join your dead boyfriend."

He raised the mace again, and Alvida knew he was ready to finish her.

"_I'm sorry Coby." _she thought through the haze of pain clouding her thoughts. _"I tried, I really tried."_

And then she saw it. Glinting by the captain's waist, was a pistol. Alvida had never even seen a pistol before, much less used one, but it was just within her reach.

"Go to hell!" yelled the pirate, bringing the mace down in a graceful arc.

It was worth a try within the last seconds of her life.

"You first." she murmured.

She seized the pistol from his waist closed her eyes and fired.

Alvida braced herself for the mace to strike, but felt nothing. Instead, she heard a noise like a strangled cry of rage or pain, or both.

Then something fell on the sand beside her, and only then did she let the hand holding the pistol fall limp on the sand.

Alvida didn't know how long she lay there. An hour could have passed, a day, a year, maybe only a few minutes. Alvida just lay there on the sand, now warm and sticky from her own blood. She didn't want to get up, open her eyes and face what she had just done. All she wanted to do was lie there until the pain throbbing through her body subsided.

She could hear hushed voices nearby.

"Are they both dead?"

"The captain sure is, she hit him straight through the head."

"Yeah, he's history."

"What about the girl, what's her name again?"

"Alvida."

"Wait, I think…I think she might be breathing."

"She's still alive?"

"Let's get out of here, she might kill us too."

Alvida opened her eyes and fired the pistol in the direction on the speaker. She heard a scream and knew she had hit her mark.

With a great effort she pushed herself into a sitting position with her good hand. Blood was still dripping steadily from the wound in her stomach.

"Any other cowards among you who want to run away?" she snarled, at the circle of pirates that had formed around her. She held the bloodstained pistol steady. "I'll give you a head start."

No one moved.

"That's better." said Alvida. "Someone get my mace."

One of them backed out of the circle and retrieved the weapon. Its silver tips were now caked in blood, and most of it was hers.

The pirate handed it wordlessly to her and she took it too push herself into a standing position. She tucked the pistol away for safekeeping.

She then turned and saw the captain lying flat on his back, a bullet hole through his forehead, his hideous face twisted into a curious expression of rage, malice and shock. Alvida slowly bent over and reached for the pouch at his waist. It was soaked in blood, but after sifting through the small jewels Alvida found her necklace. After looping it around her neck she then turned away from the ghastly sight to find the crew staring at her with a mixture of awe and terror.

She stared back at them, unsure what to do next. Did she walk away and sail home in her little boat? Did she massacre the crew to leave no reminder of the man who had killed Cobyashi? Did she take their ship and treasure to sail away in glory and grandeur?

Then something Cobyashi had said to her floated back the surface of her mind.

"_Iron Mace Alvida, the fairest maiden on all the seas."_

She didn't think there was any way that she could turn her back on being a pirate now. She had chosen revenge, and in doing so turned pirate, something you couldn't just walk away from.

"Listen!" she cried to the on looking crew. "I am your captain now! Your ship and its treasure are under my command, as are you."

She hardly knew what she was saying now, but continued brazenly onward.

"From now on you will all serve me and fly under my colors. I am the fairest maiden on all the seas! I am…"

She paused a moment, unable to believe what she was about to say. She then raised her mace and cried out:

"I am Lady Iron Mace Alvida!!"


	6. Chapter 6

Part III

Many more years had passed since Alvida had claimed her revenge on the mysterious pirate captain who had taken her best friend Cobyashi from her, but the life Alvida had led since then had changed her greatly. Every day, she questioned herself as to whether or not she had made the right choice. She found herself pained and tormented by an unidentifiable source of hatred towards all others around her. She couldn't understand it, but it made her cruel, miserable and impatient. She had hoped that after she had claimed vengeance for Cobyashi she would have experienced a feeling of fulfillment, but on the contrary, she felt emptier and missed Cobyashi more than ever.

She simply took out these feelings on what she felt was a miserable excuse for a crew. They were a small group, probably no more than fifteen or so. Ipponmashi had obviously exaggerated their numbers, when he claimed to have been attacked by thousands of pirates. Ryoshi had remained first mate merely by default, as Alvida hadn't bothered to appoint anyone else. She had no affection towards the crew she had "inherited" and simply took out all her anger and painful emotions on them by making them clean the ship and proclaim her beauty, but it failed to relieve her.

But what the most shocking change in Alvida was her appearance. She was barely recognizable from the girl who had first set foot on the island such a long time ago. She doubted if even Cobyashi would have been able to recognize her. Over the years in an attempt to combat the nightmares and floods of emotions that tortured her she had driven herself to eating disorders until she couldn't bring even bring herself to look in a mirror anymore.

She was no longer beautiful, and she knew it all too well.

* * *

"Why is there so much dust?" Alvida casually inquired one morning during the usual cleaning of the ship. She ran her finger along the ship's railing, which was thick with dust.

"So sorry Lady Alvida!" cried one of her crewmates. "I thought I'd already cleaned the whole deck! I clean it again, so please don't…"

"Don't do what?" Alvida asked coldly, fingering the mace over her shoulders, eager to use it.

After dealing with that certain member of her crew, she then called her cabin boy over and proposed the same question she did everyday.

"Coby, who is the fairest maiden on all the seas?" she asked, shouldering her mace as the boy cringed in fear of her.

"Heh, heh…of course that would be you Lady Alvida." he said with one of his nervous little laughs.

"That's right." she said with a cold smile.

The boy had only been on her ship for two years, and was more of a hindrance than a help. He was pretty bad at being cabin boy, but he knew a decent amount of navigation. However other than that he was completely useless.

And she was not blind to the fact that he shared a name with Cobyashi. When he had arrived on her ship one day, with the intent of going fishing, and then announced his name was Coby, Alvida had been stunned at the coincidence. But he was nothing like Cobyashi had been, more like a sad imitation of him. It tormented her constantly, and she hated Coby for it. She hated him simply, because of his name. It was something she couldn't seem to control, but she had some sort of inner grudge against him to make his life as miserable as she had it within her power to do.

But she wouldn't kill him.

She had threatened him with death many times, but she could not kill him.

And she remembered the day that he had stepped onto her ship all too vividly…


	7. Chapter 7

Alvida could remember that day two years ago that Coby had taken it upon himself to come aboard her ship all too well…

* * *

"We've been in this port too long." Alvida announced to her assembled crew. "The Navy could be becoming suspicious if we stay docked here much longer. We'll set sail this morning, _after_ you finish cleaning." she added with a sickeningly sweet smile.

The crew groaned in unison, setting to work begrudgingly as Alvida stood around and watched like she always did.

"Hey guys! Sorry I'm late! I got halfway here when I realized I forgot my fishing pole, but I'm here now!"

Alvida and the crew spun around to see a young boy standing on the gangplank and carrying a fishing rod. He was probably no more than eleven or twelve, with blonde hair wore enormous glasses that magnified his already abnormally large eyes.

The boy's cheerful expression melted away into one of terror, eyes wide as he took in the pirate crew standing before him.

"Oh-my-gosh." he said all in a rush, sweat beading up on his forehead. "This is the wrong ship."

He stared up at the flag hanging from the mast.

"Y-You-re pirates!" he stammered.

He spun around made to bolt off the gangplank, but Ryoshi grabbed him.

"We'll take you fishing, boy." he laughed, as the boy looked like he was about to faint. "Don't worry, we'll have a grand time. We'll let the fish eat you? How's that sound?"

The boy was mutely shaking his head, evidently frozen in shock.

He tossed the boy at Alvida's feet, where he lay shaking staring up at her.

"I-I'm sorry." he managed to stammer out. "I didn't mean to c-cause any trouble. I j-just wanted to go f-fishing."

"Does this look like a fishing boat?" Alvida snarled at him, gesturing around at the ship.

The boy shook his head and began to cry, sobbing wretchedly all over the deck.

"P-please don't k-kill me!" he wailed.

Alvida had no patience or pity for weaklings.

"Shut up!" she spat, but he simply continued crying. He was in such a state of hysteria he didn't even hear her.

She drew her mace and gave him a sharp poke in the arm.

He screamed, clutching his arm, though Alvida hard barely scratched him.

"Did that hurt?" she asked him, her voice a quiet menacing. "Would you like me to do it again?"

The boy shook his head, his eyes red and bloodshot, and hugely magnified by his glasses.

"Then shut up." said Alvida. "What's you're name?"

The boy trembled and muttered something incoherent.

"Speak up!" she snarled, leaning in close.

"C-Coby." he stammered.

Alvida stared at him in disbelief.

"Your name's Coby?" she said, her voice quiet.

"Yes." said Coby, nodding his head, still shaking. "Just Coby."

Alvida felt a wave of anger wash over her. He was named Coby? He was nothing like Cobyashi. Cobyashi had saved her life at the cost of his own. He had been her best friend. And to hear his name from this pathetic miserable, worthless boy was like an insult to her, and to the memory of Cobyashi that still haunted her.

"Can we drown the whelp now?" asked Ryoshi, eagerly grabbing Coby.

Alvida jolted out of her reverie.

"What?"

"Do you want us to drown the kid?" asked Ryoshi impatiently, dangling Coby upside down over the ship's railing, as he screamed in terror.

Alvida had half a mind to do so, but her conscience won out. It wasn't right. She couldn't kill a boy named Coby, no matter how pathetic or worthless.

"Don't kill him." she said quickly.

Her crew looked stunned.

"Don't kill him." she repeated. "He can be my cabin boy."

Ryoshi dropped Coby on the deck of the ship.

"Why Captain?" asked Ryoshi. "This kid's too weak to even be a cabin boy. What's the point?"

"Are you questioning my authority as captain?" asked Alvida, whirling on Ryoshi. "He stays as my cabin boy."

Coby threw himself at Alvida's feet.

"T-Thank you Miss!" he sobbed. "F-For sparing my life!"

"Get up!" she snarled, kicking him. "This isn't an act of mercy, it's one of pity."

Coby staggered shakily to his feet and stared back at her in silence. Alvida stared back, feeling an intolerable wave of anger spread over her. She hated this boy. She wanted to hurt him now, more than anything.

"Well," said Ryoshi. "If he's going to join the crew, we should 'initiate' him properly." He grinned eagerly at Coby.

"W-What's initiate mean?" asked Coby.

"We have a little bit of fun with you." said Ryoshi, thumping Coby heartily on the back, making him stagger. "We do something special, a little initiation rite to instate you into the crew. How's that sound?"

He turned to Alvida.

"Well, Captain." he said. "What should we do with the kid?"

Alvida stared at Coby with utmost contempt and loathing. She wanted to make him suffer, _humiliate_ him, in the absolute most _ridiculous_ way possible.

"If you're going to initiate him Ryoshi," she said coldly. "Then I want his hair pink."

"Pink?" asked Ryoshi startled.

"B-But I don't want pink hair." stammered Coby.

"Do you really think I give a damn about what you want?" snarled Alvida, her fist clenched around her mace.

"Drag him down to the wine cellars and stick his head in one of the barrels." she said, turning away. "And keep his head in there as long as it takes to make it pink."

"Yes captain." said Ryoshi, as the crew all seized Coby and proceeded to drag him down the deck's stairs to the ship's cellars, cheering and laughing as Coby wailed in protest.

Once the last of Coby's screams had faded away, Alvida walked slowly to her cabin. She stared at herself in the mirror for a long time, her thoughts scattered amidst memories and anger.

_"Coby, who is the fairest maiden on all the seas?"_

_"You are, Lady Alvida."_

She stared at her broken, ugly and unrecognizable reflection.

_"You really are the fairest maiden on all the seas…"_

With a scream of rage she raised the iron mace and smashed it into the mirror. Her image shattered with the glass, as shards flew everywhere and the frame collapsed.

She stared at the pieces lying on the floor, breathing heavily. What had she become? What was this life she was living? Why did everything just seem to cause her more hatred and pain?

"Captain." came Ryoshi's voice from behind her.

Alvida turned around to see him and Coby, who looked an awful mess, bedraggled and dripping with wine.

"That was fast." said Alvida coolly. "You better have used the cheep wine."

"Are you satisfied?" asked Ryoshi, throwing Coby face first onto the floor. He skidded across the broken glass, leaving scratches across his face and arms. He looked up at Alvida fearfully.

His hair was pink, and it didn't look that bad actually. Had his hair been darker it might not have worked, but the wine had stained his previously fair blonde shade until it was now most definitely a shade pink.

"Was your little 'initiation' fun, Coby?" Alvida asked, bending down to his level.

Coby just stared at her, his eyes wide.

"I'm going to ask you a little question Coby." she said, her voice a forced gentle. "And you are going to answer, 'You are Lady Alvida.' Is that clear?"

Coby nodded.

"Coby, who is the fairest maiden on all the seas?"

Coby stared at her, looking confused.

"The fairest maiden?" he asked.

"Yes Coby, the _fairest_ maiden."

He looked her up and down, looking more perturbed than ever.

"Why do you hesitate to answer, Coby?" asked Alvida. "Do you not find me fair?" She ran her fingers along one of the mace's silver spikes.

"No." stammered Coby. "T-That's not what I meant, I mean, yes…I--"

"Answer me Coby."

"Y-You are Lady Alvida."


	8. Chapter 8

**The dialogue used straight from the manga One Piece in the following chapter was quoted directly from "" and "One Piece Manga" from MSN groups. I made minimal edits to some of the fan translations, but for the most part the dialogue and quotes remain the same as they do in the original manga. If you have any problems with the quoted dialogue or think the translations I used were incorrect please let me know.**

* * *

The rest of the morning seemed to progress normally. After pushing Coby around for awhile, Alvida then sent him with Ryoshi and two others to clean the wine cellars. She continued surveying the cleaning of her ship, and fairly bored with the proceedings, when a loud yell suddenly broke the silence.

"WHAT A GREAT NAP THAT WAS!!"

Alvida spun around, stunned. That had definitely come from the wine cellars. But who would have the audacity to admit so openly that they had just been sleeping? Especially given how she normally dealt with slackers.

"Stop slacking!!" she yelled, hurling her mace in their direction and instantly demolishing the little building.

She saw Ryoshi and the two others lying dazed in the thick of the wreckage as she descended the ship's gangplank. Coby was no where to be seen.

"I ask you," she announced, picking up her mace. "Who is the fairest maiden on all the seas?"

They spun around, evidently surprised by her sudden appearance.

"That would be you for sure Lady Alvida!" one of them cried.

"Then why are you trying to disobey me?" she asked coolly, leaning in close to Ryoshi.

"No, we'd never do a thing like that." he said defensively. Alvida knew she scared Ryoshi, but she could never tell when he was being serious or not.

"Don't play dumb with me." she said. "I heard you yell, 'What a great nap that was' all the way from the ship!"

One of them paused, seemingly thinking.

"Oh that's right captain!" he said quickly. "There's an invader!"

"That's right!" said the other. "Just now Coby brought a strange guy here."

"What?" said Alvida, surprised. She didn't think Coby had the guts or the nerve to try something like this.

"Could they be a bounty hunter trying to capture me and claim the price on my head?" she said, stroking her mace as she mused her thoughts aloud. She cursed Coby under her breath.

"Could it be him, that famous…?" Ryoshi began, but one of them cut him off.

"Nonsense! I heard he's still being held captive at the Marine's prison!"

"But if he's all that they say he is, then he must have escaped by now." said Alvida, knowing exactly who they were talking about. "The notoriously evil Roronoa Zoro."

The crew shuddered at the name, and Alvida didn't blame them. She didn't know how Coby might have contacted him, but if Roronoa Zoro had escaped the Marines and was on her island, then she was worried. He was said to be some sort of demon in human form. Alvida didn't believe in such things, but all the same, given his reputation as a bounty hunter, she didn't think she'd be able to beat him.

"Get the crew to search the ship." she commanded Ryoshi and the others. "If Roronoa Zoro is on this island we're going to need the whole crew.

On a different note, Alvida wondered where Coby was.

* * *

They searched the island's woods for quite some time. Coby was still no where to be found, and neither was Roronoa Zoro. The whole situation made Alvida uneasy. She felt like Zoro could be watching to her to catch her off guard before she could fight.

They were about to enter a large clearing when Alvida heard voices. She signaled for her crew to stop and paused to listen.

"I wouldn't know." came an unfamiliar voice that definitely didn't sound like it could belong to Roronoa Zoro.

"I at least have to try!"

That was Coby's voice. Alvida was surprised. She had never heard Coby speak that boldly. What on earth was he talking about?

"I'd rather die trying to get out of here and join the Marines than stay here and be a cabin boy the rest of my life! And then..." He paused a moment.

Alvida was speechless. She couldn't believe this. Her little cabin boy thought he had the guts to try and join the Marines?

"And then I'll be able to capture someone like Alvida!!"

That was too much for her. She couldn't believe Coby had been harboring of her. She felt both amused and enraged at the same time. Did he possibly think he could capture her?

"Who did you say you were going to capture?" she yelled, hurling her mace into the clearing. It smashed into some sad-looking pile of wood that Coby and some guy in a straw hat were standing by. She quickly surveyed the one in the straw hat. He was just a kid. He probably wasn't even all that much older than Coby. Now that she knew she wouldn't have to face Roronoa Zoro, relaxed somewhat and focused her anger on Coby.

"Did you think you could escape from me?" she sneered, as Coby trembled and the boy in the straw hat just stared blankly around at everyone.

"Is that who you hired to capture me?" continued. "He doesn't seem to be Roronoa Zoro. Anyway, before you die, I'm going to ask you, who's the fairest maiden on all the seas, Coby?"

She had no intention of killing him, however. She threatened Coby with death all the time.

"Heh-heh…" stammered Coby. "Of course that would be--"

"Who is this rude woman?" asked the kid in the straw-hat, interrupting Coby and pointing at Alvida.

Alvida gaped at him, dumbstruck. This total stranger had the audacity to speak to her like this? Even her crew sounded stunned, though she was dimly aware of a few of them chuckling in the background, Ryoshi in particular.

Coby seized the boy and shook him roughly.

"Luffy!! Quick!!" he cried. "Repeat after me!! In all the seas, Lady Alvida is…" his voice trailed off though Alvida was still floored by Luffy's remark.

"Lady Alvida is…" he began again and paused a second time. He was seemingly undergoing some sort of intense mental conflict.

Then suddenly without warning, Coby opened his mouth and screamed as if he had been waiting to say this all his life.

"LADY ALVIDA IS THE RUDEST DAMNED BITCH EVER!!"

Alvida just stared at him. She could not believe what he had just said to her. She could only gape at him in stunned disbelief. She couldn't remember being more shocked in her life. Luffy began laughing which somewhat jolted back to reality.

"You little brat!" was all she could manage to scream out.

Luffy simply kept laughing.

"Well said, Coby." he said, pushing Coby out of the way. "Now get behind me."

At the moment, Alvida was prepared to kill anyone in her path, even if it was Coby. But Luffy was in the way, so she had to take him out first.

"Now both of you have to die!!" she yelled, bringing her mace crashing down on Luffy with every ounce of strength and rage she had.

Alvida expected him to fall over crumpled, bleeding and wailing for mercy. That was usually what happened when you got hit by her mace, if you weren't already dead before you hit the ground. But Luffy didn't budge. Her mace didn't eve seemed to have scratched him.

"That's useless against me!" he laughed. "Because my body is made of rubber!"

"Impossible! That's impossible! My mace!" she cried, staring from Luffy to her mace in disbelief.

But Luffy was backing up now, and his arm was _stretching._ Alvida thought she was seeing things, but Luffy's arm was most definitely stretching, and at an astonishing speed…and it was stretching towards her.

"Gomu-Gomu Pistol!"

Alvida had only a few seconds to wonder what on earth was going on, before Luffy's fist collided with her face, and she blacked out.

* * *

Alvida was jolted rudely awake an hour or so later by a cold splash of water thrown by Ryoshi.

"What the hell?!" she yelled at him, sitting up abruptly, only to be struck with a splitting headache and a very sore jaw.

"Sorry Captain." said Ryoshi, not sounding entirely apologetic. "Just trying to revive you."

Alvida wiped a trickle of blood from her mouth.

"Where's Coby and that kid, Luffy, or whatever his name was."

"Oh, they're long gone." said Ryoshi. "He said all he wanted was a boat for him and Coby, so Coby could go and become a Marine. So we gave him one, and they left together."

"So you gave them a boat, just like that." said Alvida in annoyance. "You didn't try to stop them?"

"He had devil fruit powers, Milady." said Ryoshi. "He ate the Gomu-Gomu fruit. There was no way we were going to try and fight him."

"There no such thing." said Alvida, rolling her eyes. "Devil fruits may be real, but their powers are just myths. You're an idiot. "

She staggered to her feet, clutching her throbbing head.

"I think you'll find," said Ryoshi, calling after her as Alvida began to walk unsteadily back to the ship. "That those 'myths' might be truer than you think."


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello everyone! I apologize for not posting after such a lengthy period of time. I was in a play, and had major rehearsals all week and two performances on Saturday. I extend my thanks to the few people who have reviewed so far. **

**And that pairing I mentioned, the one "never written before"….It was ****not**** AlxOC. Cobyashi is not part of the pairing. The pairing…is still yet to come.**

**This is kind of a ****weird**** chapter….but enjoy! (And note the odd little jokes about giraffes. They are sort of a tribute to a certain character from Enies Lobby.)**

* * *

Alvida spent the next several days sulking in her cabin. She didn't have the heart to get up and push around her crew. She was still reeling at the fact that for the first time in her life she had been beaten, and by a teenage boy for that matter. She had coved through her bookshelves, determined to prove Ryoshi wrong, but she had instead found a sort of 'reference book' on the powers supposedly given by devil fruits, and soon found herself reading it with great interest.

- _Gomu-Gomu Fruit-__ a devil fruit __that alters the skin to stretch with a rubber-like characteristic. Body is able to withstand enormous strain and impact and is immune to bullets and projectile weapons along with spikes and other sharp objects. Exceptions being swords and seastone. (See __seastone__ page 127)_

"_So that's why my mace didn't hurt him."_ thought Alvida, as she continued to read. She was amazed at the number of devil fruits there were, and some were yet to be identified. She couldn't believe some of the abilities they granted.

Alvida couldn't see why any pirate would want any powers like these, or any ability from a devil fruit for that matter. As interesting as it was to read about them, Alvida couldn't see how any pirate in their right mind would be willing to give up their ability to swim for such odd powers. The thought of being on a ship, surrounded by water when you could so easily drown chilled her.

Come to think of it, Alvida remembered her crew had actually found some devil fruit aboard a Marine ship once. It had been awhile ago, even before Coby had arrived. None of her crew had dared to even touch it, and Alvida didn't blame them after what she had been reading. Alvida had known devil fruits existed, but had only believed their powers to be myth. She definitely wasn't going to eat it either, so it stayed in the ship's cargo hold with all the rest of her treasure. Up until now, she hadn't believed any of the legends about devil fruits, and considering they were worth one hundred million berries, Alvida felt that such an amount of money was much more worthwhile than any of the abilities she had read about so far.

It was getting fairly late. Making a mental note to herself to check what kind of devil fruit it was in the morning, she shut her book and blew out the candle.

"_Maybe it's the kind that turns you into a giraffe."_ she thought as she lay in her hammock, staring up at the ceiling of her cabin. _"It's too bad Coby's not here anymore, Coby would have been fun as a giraffe…"_

* * *

Ryoshi was down in the lower cabins of Alvida's ship, with the rest of the crew. Unknown to Alvida, he had organized a meeting in light of her recent defeat, and discuss the situation with the rest if the crew. The whole crew revered him as the first mate, and were all keen to here what he might have to say.

"Alright, listen everyone." he said to the crewmates gathered around him. "I'm going to get to the point with what I need to say. Things need to change around here."

"What do you mean 'change'?" asked one of the crew.

"You know what I mean." Ryoshi said to the speaker. "I think it's about time for a new captain."

He paused a moment.

"Mutiny."

The crew erupted with cries of objection.

"We can't do that!"

"She's too strong!"

"With that mace she could kill us all!"

"Shut up! All of you and listen!" yelled Ryoshi, and the crew quieted down. "How many of you remember who that mace belonged to in the first place?"

The crew was completely silent. Some hung their heads.

"Alvida is far from the girl who killed our real captain on the beach all those years ago!" continued Ryoshi. "We just learned she's not invincible! Look what that straw hat kid did to her a couple of days ago! If that's one kid can do to her, regardless of devil fruit powers, imagine how easy it would be for all of us to overthrow her!"

"And besides." he added. "Have any of you exactly been happy, with her as the captain? She's hardly 'the fairest maiden on the seas' and she knows it. Do you think most pirates clean the ship day in and day out and bow to the whims of their captain who rules like a tyrant?! How long has it been that we've put up with her?!"

There was a long silence in which the crew just stared at Ryoshi, until one of them spoke up.

"You've been planning this for awhile haven't you, Ryoshi?" he said quietly.

Ryoshi was silent for a moment.

"Every since I lost to her," he murmured, "And watched my captain die by his own weapon, I wanted revenge."

He looked around at the crew, who were all watching him.

"Well are you with me or not?!" he cried. "Do want this bitch to be our captain any longer?"

There was a great roar of approval of "Ayes!" from the crew.

"Alright." said Ryoshi, as the crew leaned in closer around him. "This could turn out to be a little fun too. Here's what we should do…"

* * *

Later that night Ryoshi carefully picked the lock to the ship's cargo hold. Once inside, he rummaged through the treasure until he found what he was looking for. Picking it up, and inspecting it carefully by the candle he had brought. He smiled with satisfaction.

It was perfect.

He then made his way to Alvida's cabin. He once again picked the lock and crept softly inside, clutching the precious object to his chest.

Alvida was sleeping peacefully in her hammock. Ryoshi had a sudden urge to kill here then and there as he approached, but he knew he couldn't mess with the plan now that he had the whole crew involved. Besides, it would be quite interesting to see the "outcome" of his plan.

He just wished he didn't exactly have to do this part.

A few minutes later he emerged from Alvida's cabin, shuddering slightly as he quietly closed the door. Several of his crewmates were waiting outside. He gave them a nod that told them he was finished.

As they walked back to the crew's quarters a couple of them began to voice their questions.

"How will we know it worked?"

"Will she look all different?"

"Will she be a giraffe?"

Ryoshi laughed.

"Oh, she'll look different alright…"


	10. Chapter 10

Alvida awoke the next morning feeling fantastic. The best she'd felt for years it seemed like. She'd had the strangest dream though, that she'd tried to cram an entire pineapple into her mouth at once. It felt oddly real, but tasted horrible.

She yawned and stretched dramatically. She felt lighter, refreshed, almost like a new person. It was a great feeling, but she couldn't figure out why she felt so euphoric from a night's sleep.

She swung her legs over the side of the hammock. She was about to jump down, when she took a good look at her legs. They were long and slender and her feet definitely looked smaller. Perplexed, she examined her hands and her arms. They definitely looked different as well. They seemed thinner and the number of rings she usually wore were know hanging loosely around her fingers.

Then she looked down at her waist and screamed.

Only it wasn't her voice that burst from her throat. It was clear and light like a perfected soprano note. Alvida didn't have time to contemplate this, as she toppled out of the hammock in shock and crashed to the floor. But she barely felt the impact. It actually didn't seem to hurt at all. She tried to stand up and slipped on the floor, falling again. She tried again and still slipped on the floor. How was it possible that she kept slipping on the floor? It made no sense, coupled with the fact that her body seemed to have transformed in the middle of the night.

Clutching the wall of the cabin for support, she managed to push herself into a standing position, balanced against the wall without slipping. She was reminded briefly of a time when she and Cobyashi had taken off their shoes and gone sliding across the marble floors of his house in their socks. Alvida then thought it would have been brilliant idea to see what it would be like if they tried it without socks. They had slid about two inches and she fell over and ended up with floor burns for weeks.

The wooden floor was definitely too rough to slide on, even if she was in socks, but she was barefoot. Nonplussed, Alvida carefully sat down so as not to slip again and ran her hand across the wooden surface of the floor. It felt perfectly normal. Still at a loss, Alvida then felt the soles of her feet, and gasped aloud as she quickly drew her hand away in shock. The soles of her feet were amazingly smooth and slippery. She felt all up and down her legs and arms and encountered the same feeling. They all felt silky smooth, and above all slippery. She shook her head, and pinched herself hard in the arm. She barely felt it. Her nails couldn't break her skin. They just slid right off.

"_What is going on with me?!" _she thought, her mind reeling in panic.

Terrified now, Alvida grabbed her boots that lay under her hammock, though they were far too big for her now. She clomped across the room to a large full-length mirror that stood abandoned and forgotten in a corner. It had been years since she had been able to bring herself to look in it. Alvida had smashed all her other mirrors in fits of anger, (Like when she met Coby.) but this one had somehow survived the wrath of her and her mace. Slowly, almost fearfully, she brushed the layer of dust off the glass, and gazed at her reflection.

It was as though those tortuous years of being captain had never happened. Every burden and pain she had ever shouldered had never occurred. Almost as of she had been preserved as the young girl she had been when first arriving on the island, but still somehow matured. There was something about her features that separated her from that young girl, to a woman. She no longer looked like she was thirty or forty years old or more. Her matted black hair had returned to its previous luxurious, glossy and sleek gentle curls, falling just past her shoulders. Even though the silk pajamas she had gone to bed in now hung loosely about her, she could still make out long slender legs, and a perfectly curved waist and hips. And as she peered closer into the mirror at her firm cheekbones…"

"_Even my freckles are gone."_ she thought in wonder. But her astonishment quickly turned back into fear. She had gone to bed and woke up an almost completely different person, and her body was…'slippery'? Her mind was racing. Something was very wrong.

There was a knock on the door.

"Captain!" came Ryoshi's voice. "Are you alright? We heard you scream a minute ago. Should we set sail or do you want us to clean the ship first?"

Alvida didn't know what to say. At a time like this cleaning and sailing were the least important things to her.

"_Just get the crew out of the way."_ she told herself. _"If you let them do what they want they won't bother you."_

She took a deep breath.

"I'm fine." she said, as calmly as she could. "Do what ever you think is best Ryoshi." She again noticed how even her voice sounded different. It was sensual, lighter and sweeter, almost musical.

"You don't have to clean if you don't want to." she continued. "Feel free to set sail whenever you want. I think I'm going to stay in my cabin for awhile."

"Of course." said Ryoshi. She then heard him yell happily, "Hey guys! Let's get ready to sail! We don't have to clean today!!" along with the crew's raucous shouts of laughter.

"_The simple are so easily satisfied."_ Alvida thought, with satisfaction.

* * *

Alvida decided she needed to find something to wear. The problem was that _everything_ in her closet fit anymore. Alvida managed to find a pair a sandals that fit so she wouldn't slide all over the place, but other than that she was hard-pressed to find something to wear. She reluctantly decided she would have to attempt sew something out of what she had. Alvida knew she couldn't sew to save her life, but she took out a pair of scissors and thread and decided she would have to teach herself.

So she started with the purple coat she normally wore. She cut off all the tassels and gaudy epaulettes along with the gold trim and buttons. Then she tried to adjust the length and width and stitched the back and the sides so it was much more form-fitting and would flare out. She then found a pink and white pair of pants that would look decent with the coat. She again adjusted the length and then decided to line her sandals and the cuffs of her coat with the excess material she had cut from the pants. She adjusted the waistline of the pants, but they were still fairly baggy, so she eventually found a lavender sash to tie around her waist. But then there was the question of a top. After turning her wardrobe, closet and drawers upside-down and inside-out she eventually found a bikini top. She had no idea why she had it, (she couldn't ever remember wearing it when she was younger) but she couldn't exactly go out topless, and it matched anyhow. She then found a pink shawl patterned with hearts and added that to her ensemble.

Alvida then added and necklace, and examined her new reflection in the mirror. She was impressed with the fact she had managed to practically make herself a new outfit, but she was at a loss of how she had woken up this way, and why her skin was so abnormally smooth.

"_I suppose this is the best I can do." _Alvida said to herself. She hoped the crew would still be too excited at the fact that they didn't have to clean the ship to notice her sudden transformation, but it was highly unlikely. Shouldering her mace, she timidly opened the door of her cabin and stepped outside. She couldn't hear the crew at all, as she walked slowly up the stairs to the deck. It was dead silence.

She strode out onto the deck. It seemed to be fine, but her crew was nowhere in sight. Something wasn't right.

"There she is! Get her!"

Alvida whirled around to see the whole of her crew running towards her, with their weapons raised and Ryoshi in the lead.

Startled, and before she could react, she was thrown roughly to the ground and pinned down by several pairs of strong arms, her face pressed to the deck. She struggled fiercely, but as hopelessly outnumbered.

"Ryoshi! What's with her skin?" she heard one of her captors yell. "It's all slippery, I can barely hold onto her!"

"Sorry about that, it can't be helped." said Ryoshi casually, picking up Alvida's mace where it had fallen out of her reach. "You're looking particularly lovely this morning, Captain." he added with a sneer at Alvida

"What to you mean?!" Alvida snarled as she continued her struggle. "What's going on?! Tell me!!"

Ryoshi laughed, and bent down to Alvida's level. He tilted her chin up to look her in the eye, smiling contemptuously.

"One word for you, Milady." he said. "Mutiny."

"WHAT!?" Alvida nearly screamed, now fighting with new ferocity now more terrified than she had been all morning.

"You heard me." he said, clearly enjoying himself.

"You bastard!" Alvida spat at Ryoshi. "I should have killed you when I had the chance, you filthy backstabber." All she wanted was to lunge at Ryoshi, and vent the hatred screaming to be let out.

She fought so desperately against the hold of the crew she heard one of the crew holding her down say, "Couldn't we just shoot her now? Or slit her throat? It would be a lot easier."

He grabbed Alvida's hair and she gasped in pain as he yanked it back, forcing her head up and exposing her bare neck to Ryoshi.

"A good idea," said Ryoshi, drawing his knife and licking the blade. "And I would if I could, but she's so slippery I couldn't break her skin."

Alvida closed her eyes, shuddering as Ryoshi brought the blade across her throat, but surprisingly she felt nothing.

"See?" he said, standing up and sheathing the blade. "Sorry. But if you can't keep her still just tie her up for the time being."

Alvida felt them let go of her hair and bind her wrists and ankles together.

"What's wrong with me?" Alvida demanded of Ryoshi, wincing as the ropes were knotted painfully. "Why am I like this? You and the crew know, don't you?"

"Of course we know." said Ryoshi incredulously. "We're not idiots you know, despite what you might think. Listen closely. We planned this little mutiny last night, though I had been waiting for the right moment for a long time. But we knew we wouldn't quite be able to take you down given your, ahem…accountable size and strength at the time, and we needed a way to distract you, and shake you up so you'd be easier to take."

"So all you're saying is you wouldn't have been able to beat me in a fair fight." said Alvida, not sure where Ryoshi was going with this but listening intently, to not ceasing her efforts to break free.

Ryoshi seemed to ignore this comment and continued on.

"Last night," he continued, "I broke into the ships cargo hold. Then I rummaged through the treasure until I found what I was looking for. Do you know what I found?"

Alvida refused to answer.

"Go on, take a guess, what do think it was?" said Ryoshi, with a mocking laugh.

Alvida still glared back in silence.

"I take it you don't know then." said Ryoshi. He again bent down face Alvida. He tilted her head up until she was forced to look him in the eye.

"Would you like me to tell you?" he asked, tauntingly, his face inches from hers. "Do you want to know, _Milady_?"

"TELL ME YOU SON OF A BITCH!" she screamed.

Ryoshi laughed.

"You have a filthy mouth, even if you are a _lady_ pirate."

He paused a moment.

"It was the devil fruit."

Alvida stared back at him, stunned. It wasn't possible. She felt panic and fear, more than she had felt this morning, washing over her.

"I can't have." she murmured, when she finally found her voice. "I was asleep." She was shaking, and felt tears burning her eyes.

Ryoshi smiled and shook his head.

"Never sleep with you mouth open." he whispered.

Alvida stared at him in horror.

"I suppose you're wondering what kind it was." said Ryoshi, in a nonchalant tone of voice. "Given your fascination with them lately. Fortunately I was able to identify it. It was the Sube-Sube fruit."

Alvida simply stared back in stunned disbelief.

"_The Sube-Sube fruit?"_

"Oh, you don't know what it is?" laughed Ryoshi. "Allow me to enlighten you. You gain a slippery body, unable to be broken by any physical attacks, but there is one unusual side effect. The Sube-Sube fruit not only gives, but can restore…"

He smiled, as Alvida listened, terrified.

"…incredible beauty."

"Enough talk Ryoshi." said one of the crew impatiently. "Let's just get rid of her."

"Of course." said Ryoshi, standing up. "We _were_ going to maroon the traditional way, you know, leave you on some god-forsaken island with a pistol, but then we realized a pistol wouldn't be of much use to you, seeing how the bullet would just bounce right off. We thought it would be proper to put you out your misery as soon possible, so we all thought it would be best to drown you."

Alvida was unable to control herself any longer, the terror and realization of what was about to happen to her sinking in. She burst into tears, wailing and for the first time in her life, pleading for mercy.

"Ryoshi," she sobbed. "Please, don't do this…"

"You had this coming Alvida." said Ryoshi, as the crew lifted her to her feet. They dragged her to the ship's railing, fighting all that she could to resist.

"Can we do it Ryoshi?" asked one of the crew eagerly.

"Of course." said Ryoshi, smiling at Alvida's vain efforts to free herself.

"You know," he added. "I almost feel sorry drowning someone as lovely as you." He leaned in close to Alvida's face, and gently stroked her cheek.

"_Almost." _he whispered, softly.

Then he turned his back to her.

"Godspeed to hell, Alvida." he said, waving his hand. "Throw her over."

The crew slashed her bonds, and Alvida screamed as she was thrown from the ships.

As she struck the icy water, she was aware a strange feeling, that terrified her, and could only be because of the devil fruit. It was a feeling of total immobilization, of complete paralysis. She strained to move, any part of her, but she was frozen, and the further she sank, the less she even tried to move. She recalled where she had read that the sea supposedly robbed you of your will to live, to survive, and she could feel it happening to her.

She hit the bottom and her remaining breath burst from her mouth. She choked as water flooded into to her mouth and lungs, clouding her mind. All she could see and feel was the water, closing in and pressing down on her. She felt numbed and weak.

"_It's over."_ Alvida thought. _"I'm going to die."_

She saw a dark shape pierce the water above her, but then darkness engulfed her and she felt no more.


	11. Chapter 11

Alvida awoke to find herself back on the island, lying on the beach. Startled, she sat up and looked around. She thought she had drowned. The last thing she remembered was seeing something dark dive into the water directly above her before she had blacked out. Shivering, she drew her shawl tightly around her though it was dripping wet too.

"_How am I alive?" _she thought. "_Did I just dream everything? Ryoshi's mutiny, the devil fruit, everything?"_

She felt delirious, the situation made no sense to her.

But with a jolt, she was brought back to reality. This had been no dream. Ryoshi had been behind the whole mutiny. She wanted nothing more than anything to get back to her ship now, and to kill him and the rest of the crew too. She could see her ship on the horizon, and it wasn't too far off. It would seem her crew didn't know she was alive and back on the island. But how was she still alive? She had seen something above her in the water before she blacked out. Had that been what had saved her?

She heard a faint, soft cry behind her, like a bird. She turned around to beautiful bird, with vibrant scarlet plumage staring at her. Something Cobyashi had told her floated back from the depths of her memories.

"_They're called a Scarlet Albatross. They're supposedly from the Grand Line, but it's even rare to see one there. They're water birds, and can dive really deep underwater too. They're also supposedly really strong."_

She stared at it, unwilling to believe.

"Impossible." she murmured aloud. "It can't be."

The bird flew down to land beside her on the sand. She tentatively reached out to stroke its neck, and to her astonishment saw a thin scar there, white against the brilliantly crimson feathers.

Not only was it a Scarlet Albatross, but it was the one she and Cobyashi had saved.

'How…?" she began, unable to comprehend that the bird had saved her. She shook her head.

"All these years." she murmured, stroking the bird, who continued to survey her. "I saved your life, and you saved mine. How did you find me? Did you know my crew would try to kill me? Have you followed me my whole life? How did you carry me back to the island without the crew seeing?"

The questions teeming through her mind burst out in a rush. The Scarlet Albatross simply cocked its head and stared at her.

Alvida knew she wouldn't be getting any answers. She hadn't expected to.

Alvida sat there awhile, unsure what to do. Her ship was drifting further and further away. She wanted it back so desperately, and she wanted to kill Ryoshi. But she couldn't swim, and she had no means of building some sort of raft to get out there. But she couldn't stay on the island forever. She continued to ponder the situation as rage continued to burn inside her.

"_The Scarlet Albatross!"_

It had been able to carry her back to island with the crew seeing, could it possibly bring her back?

"Listen." said Alvida, staring the bird straight into its golden eyes. "I don't know if you can understand me, but I need you to bring me back to my ship." She pointed to her ship on the horizon.

The bird blinked its eyes and looked intently back at her. Alvida waited for some sort of sign that it had understood her, but, it merely looked back at her.

Alvida sighed.

"_So much for that."_

Suddenly, the Albatross seemed to rear up spread it enormous scarlet wings. Alvida jumped back in shock. It flew into the air, several feet above her, and then soared down straight for her. Alvida nearly screamed as it seized her around the waist with its feet and was lifted into the air.

She found herself looking down at the water below as they soared over the ocean, the bird's elegant scarlet wings beating the air on either side of her. And for a moment as they sailed towards her ship with astonishing speed, Alvida felt all her hatred and rage melt away with the gentle breeze and the slight spray of the sea beneath her. All thoughts of the morning had vanished, all she wanted to do was glide over the sea, forever.

She closed her eyes.

She was flying.

* * *

"Who gets to keep her mace?" asked one of the crew as Ryoshi picked it up.

"The captain should." said Ryoshi, picking it up.

"Who's the captain?" asked another.

"Me of course you idiot." said Ryoshi scathingly. "We'd still be slaves to that wench if it wasn't for me."

"Just because it was your idea to get rid of her that doesn't make you automatically captain!" complained another.

One of the crew grabbed the mace from him.

"I don't think anyone should have the mace." he said. "It should serve as a reminder of who our true captain was."

A gunshot shattered the air.

The crewmate dropped the mace and collapsed, blood pouring down the back of his head.

"Your 'true' captain? Surely you're not referring to that bastard I killed on the beach all those years ago?"

The crew spun around simultaneously to see Alvida, holding her smoking pistol.

"That mace belongs to me."

The crew stared at her, dumbstruck.

"We just killed you." said one of them.

"You're dead."

"It's her spirit come back for vengeance!"

Alvida walked over slowly to pick up her mace. The crew backed away.

"No, it's me alright." she said.

The crew stared at her, and Alvida smiled sensually.

"Just admit you're terrified."

Ryoshi was the first to break the silence.

"Don't just stand there, kill her!"

"But Ryoshi," said one, in a terrified voice. "You said that none of our attacks would hurt her because--"

"KILL HER!" Ryoshi yelled.

But Alvida was already upon them. With a scream of fury she swung her mace, and began cutting down anyone in path. She felt hatred wash over her and she gave in to it.

Bloodlust darkened her gaze.

She would leave no survivors.

She felt a bullet strike her in the back but she felt no pain. She spun around to see on of the crew holding a pistol and staring at her in shock. She hurled her mace at her attacker. It ripped through his body and he collapsed in a puddle of his own blood with the spikes embedded in his chest.

Several others rushed at her. One of them struck her in the arm, and the blade broke in half. He stared from Alvida to the useless handle, until Alvida seized him and struck his head against the mast of the ship. His skull shattered and blood poured from his mouth and nostrils, his face frozen in an expression of shock and terror.

The crew was in mass dismay, all fighting to get away from her and one another. She retrieved the mace from the body she had hurled it at, its silver tips now red, warm and sticky with blood and entrails.

Alvida ran headlong into anyone she could see, slashing through the mass of bodies, shooting some with her pistol, and crudely beheading others with her mace, the spikes ripping through their necks. She felt various attacks bounce and slide off her body, but she didn't care. She just swung her mace in the direction of the attacker, relishing the screams of pain and cries of terror.

She saw one who was trying to jump over the ship's railing. She picked up a fallen dagger and ran it through the back of his neck, watching the blade exit the other side.

A maddened scream of laughter escaped her lips. Her thoughts were clouded and she was not aware or herself or her actions in the haze of rage clouding her mind. She was no longer herself, only acting on a natural instinct.

She turned and then saw Ryoshi on the other side of the deck, climbing over the ship's railing about to jump over.

Alvida drew her pistol and fired. She watched as the bullet struck him in the back in mid-jump. He screamed, suspended in mid-air fir that split second, and then he fell. Alvida heard a quiet splash in the water. She waked over slowly to the edge of the ship and saw a pool of red staining the surface of the water.

"Godspeed Ryoshi." she murmured. "Godspeed to hell."

And then she sat down on the deck, with the bodies of her former crew lying slaughtered around her, and cried, as a scarlet bird perched on the figurehead looked on.


	12. Chapter 12

Part IV

For hours it seemed, Alvida sat on the deck of her ship and cried. She cried for what her life had been and what it was now. For the shock of the aftermath of her massacre, for the pain, longing and loneliness she had felt since Cobyashi's death, and for reasons she didn't even know, she just cried. Bitter tears of sorrow, anger and despair poured freely from her eyes to fall on the now bloodstained deck of her ship, surrounded by the bodies of her former crew.

But Alvida knew that no matter how much she cried, her tears couldn't wash the terrible things she had done to her life, much less the blood staining the once spotless deck of her ship.

She looked to the ship's figurehead where the Scarlet Albatross was perched. It surveyed her, its expression unreadable as it gazed it her with its fierce yellow eyes. Alvida stood up to face it.

"Thank you." she murmured with a bow of respect to it.

It blinked its great golden eyes, then spread its beautiful wings, and flew off over the ocean, a scarlet speck reflected against blue water.

Alvida watched until it had completely vanished into the horizon.

"Goodbye." she called after it. "I won't ever forget you."

She took off her hat and ran her fingers along the soft, red feather. The same bird, so long ago, when she and Cobyashi had saved its life. And now it had saved hers.

"_Cobyashi…"_

Fresh tears burned her eyes at the memory, but she blinked them back.

_"_It's useless to cry anymore_."_ she told herself sternly.

She silently moved about the deck, picking up the bodies of her slain crew and hefting them over the side of the ship, letting them fall into the water. She set to work cleaning the ship, something that had always brought her comfort. It didn't take long, and after an hour or so there were no signs of any battle whatsoever.

Though she knew she could get the ship as clean as she wanted, she could rid herself of the gruesome memories that would now stain her mind forever.

She had fought and killed the former captain of this ship, and so many others in her line of work as a pirate. And now for the second time in her life, she had given into a lust for revenge. And now she had to face the consequences of what she had done to herself. To completely lose control of herself and give in to sheer rage as she had, came with a fresh trauma and shock should could never had prepared herself for. She knew she there would be some sleepless nights from here on because of what she had done.

She then took a bath, letting the washing away all the blood and sweat coating her body. The steaming water relaxed her and calmed her and her thoughts.

She then walked slowly down the stairs to her cabin. She sat down in her hammock, and picked up her book from the side table. The flipped through the pages until she found a small paragraph at the bottom of a page, one she had skipped over with disinterest.

- _The Sube-Sube Fruit__- a Devil Fruit which completely erases friction of one's body giving them smooth and slippery skin immune to all physical attacks, with the sole exception being seastone. (See __seastone__ page 127.) In addition, the __Sube-Sube Fruit will grant whoever eats it phenomenal beauty._

Alvida stared at the page for a long time. She read the words over and over, trying to let the reality of it sink in. There was absolutely nothing she could do. She couldn't swim, was cursed a slippery body, and now she was beautiful.

"_I guess it could be worse." _she thought, with a small smile. _"I could have ended up a giraffe."_

She lay there in her hammock for a long time, just thinking. Then she stood up and crossed her cabin to the once forgotten mirror that stood in the corner, her mace gripped in her hand. She studied herself, seeing her now flawless image of a paragon reflected back at her.

"_The fairest maiden on all the seas."_

Then slowly, she raised her mace and let it crash into the mirror and her reflection. She watched as her image slowly seemed to shatter into a thousand little pieces suspended in time that mirrored her visage back to her a thousand times more. And then they fell, cracking into crystalline shards as they fell about her feet. Alvida closed her eyes and let herself breathe a sigh of blissful relief. She would no longer let herself fall prey to the vanity of the world.

She then walked back upstairs to the deck. It was late in the evening, and the sky was a deep crimson. She stared out to the horizon, where the Scarlet Albatross had flown off into.

So much had happened to her in just one day. She looked back at the island. There was nothing left for her there. If Coby had succeeded in joining the Navy he probably would be doing all he could to have her hunted down and would have told of the islands whereabouts. But where would she go? What would happen to her?

"What should I do?" she asked aloud of the ocean. Her words hung on the air, but received no reply, no comforting answer.

Luffy was the only man who had ever been able to defeat her. She had never run from, or lost a fight until she met him. There was something odd about him, not just the fact that he had eaten Devil Fruit. She was just like him, cursed with great power. She certainly didn't like him, he was obnoxious, but then again she could be too at times. But something she couldn't quite put her finger on was telling her try and find Luffy. She didn't know why she wanted to find him, but that something seemed to tell her it was the right direction to start.

She stared out at the, shining scarlet as the Albatross's wings in the sunset, highlighted with streaks of gold and lavender. The ocean was waiting, beckoning her with the taste of adventure. She closed her eyes and took at deep breath, letting the feeling wash over her.

Then she hauled the anchor up, and lifted the sail. It swelled in the gentle breeze of the evening. She drew her shawl around her and walked to the ship's wheel. She ran her fingers along the finely polished wood lovingly.

She didn't have a clue where Luffy was, how she would find him, or even why she wanted to, but she didn't care. The horizon was calling with that irresistible taste of adventure, and she wasn't about to ignore it. She would make things better for herself, try to start over. She grasped the ship's wheel, and in spite of herself, and all that had happened, managed a small smile. She wasn't sure where her life was going to take her from this point on, but she was willing to take a chance and find out.

Little did she know, her life was about to take a very whimsical turn…

* * *

Alvida sailed for about a week, having absolutely no idea where she was going. She simply let the wind and current take her wherever they pleased. She spent most of the time down in her cabin reading, or up on the deck by the ship's wheel, reminiscing with a bottle of wine and singing songs to herself. There was no one to hear her. She hadn't seen any other ships or stopped at any ports. Alvida wasn't sure where she would end up, but she loved that taste and thrill of adventure and decided to let the sea decide where she went. But the days were long and very lonely, and she wanted company to share her adventure with.

Around the second or third week at sea, Alvida was resting in her hammock reading, trying to discern more about the Sube-Sube fruit, and letting the fresh coat of bright pink toenail polish on her now slippery feet dry. She had been letting the ship steer itself (quite literally) when suddenly began to hear commotion outside.

Startled, she up quick and ran up to the deck, where she was greeted by the strangest, (and possibly most amusing) sight she had ever seen.

A giant crab, was splashing about in the water and happily chasing after what looked like a pair of hands and a pair of feet, along with a head all seemingly free-floating and dressed as a sort of hideous and grotesque cross between a clown and a pirate. The various body parts were all jumping and floating around, trying to evade the crab in the wreckage of a broken raft, and making a great deal of noise.

Alvida's first thought was, "_What the hell is going on?"_ but on second thought decided she should intervene somehow, or the crab might decide her ship might be more fun to play with.

Drawing her pistol, she took aim at the crab and fired two shots. One hit it in the mouth, knocking out one of its boulder-sized teeth, and another in the forehead. It sort of froze, its enormous eyes widening, and then it began to sink in a great rush of bubbles.

"Umm….hang on!" Alvida called down to the head, hands and feet, which where struggling to keep hold of what was left of the raft.

"I'll throw down a rope!" She tossed a rope ladder over the ship's railing. The parts seemed to somewhat converge, the hands just below the head and the feet beneath them, but there was no sign of an actual body and they didn't really seem connected to anything. It was the creepiest thing Alvida had ever seen, random body parts floating, and the whole pirate/clown attire made it even weirder. Whatever 'it' was almost at the top of the rope ladder and Alvida grabbed its fur-lined coat and hauled it over the railing and onto the deck.

"What the hell are you?" asked Alvida, staring with disgust at the soaking wet head, hands and feet lying on her deck, not bothering to wonder how rude she must sound.

The parts straightened up, made somewhat of wobbly bow to Alvida.

"Pirate Captain Buggy the Clown, at your service milady." he said, staring in rapture at Alvida. "And your name is?"

"Alvida." said Alvida a little distractedly. "Lady Alvida. Umm…not to be rude or anything, but--?"

"Oh, that." said Buggy turning red. "I--um…well I actually have a body. Somewhere. I've eaten the Bara-Bara fruit, you see. My body parts can be cut off and nothing will happen, but I lost my body in a grand battle! It was treacherous fight of valor and strength! I had the upper hand, but was unfairly defeated! There was no honor, no justice! So I have vowed to find my body and claim revenge on the one who defeated me!"

"Okay then." said Alvida trying to mask her repulsion as she stared down at Buggy. "I hope that goes well for you."

"However milady," said Buggy. "In my glorious quest for revenge, if there is any way I can be of assistance to you, please to not hesitate to let me know, for my life is in debt to you."

"I don't care." said Alvida shrugging. "I saved you from a giant crab, so what." But then a thought occurred to her. She was disinclined to ask a set of body parts for help, but decided to give it a try.

"Actually, there is something." she said. "One minute."

Alvida went to her cabin and grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill. She hurried back on deck and quickly drew what she thought was a decent picture of Luffy.

"I need you to help me search for-" said Alvida finishing her sketch and turning it to show Buggy.

"-him. His name is-"

"LUFFY!" cried Buggy his head jumping a foot in the air to Alvida's surprise and disgust. "I fought him! He's the one I want revenge on! He cost me my body!"

"Really?" said Alvida, surprised that Buggy knew Luffy as well.

"I will gladly help you search for him! said Buggy. "On my honor as a pirate! We'll find my body and my crew, and then we'll hunt him down together! What do you say we form an alliance?

Alvida considered this for a moment. It didn't seem to be the smartest idea to be teaming up with a bunch of body parts she had just pulled out of the ocean, but then again she was without a crew, and couldn't keep drifting around like she had been doing.

"Alright." she said reluctantly to Buggy. "It's a deal."

"Excellent!" said Buggy happily, who seemed to be more excited about the fact he was forming an alliance with someone like Alvida than the fact they would be searching for Luffy.

"Let's celebrate!" he cried happily. "Make it a true pirate alliance! Break out the grog! You got food?"

Alvida sighed. "I don't drink grog, but I'll see what I have. Be right back."

Alvida came back with wine and fish she had found in the galley. Buggy had nailed Alvida's drawing of Luffy to the mast of the ship with a dagger. He happily attacked the fish with one hand and toasted Alvida with the other, while Alvida only halfheartedly toasted him back while she drank straight from her bottle of wine. Maybe she drank enough wine she could convince herself this alliance with Buggy was a good thing…

* * *

**Hi! Weird chapter, I know…I hate writing about Buggy, and it was difficult to imagine the dialogue that went between him and Alvida when she rescued him. This was originally two chapters, but I decided to mush them together because they were both kind of short. Anyway…the pairing draws closer…you know you're excited for it! Only two more chapters until we find out! R & R!! **


	13. Chapter 13

**Hello! Sorry for the slight delay in posting. This is another sort of strange chapter, but it was extremely difficult and irritating to try and dream up intelligent sounding dialogue for the front chapter panels about Buggy joining up with Alvida. (I know those panels were so long ago, they were about in the Baratie arc if anyone wants to go and check them for any errors I might have made.)**

**This is the last chapter before…the pairing!! **

* * *

Though now after several days, and several more bottles of wine Alvida was still not convinced her partnership with Buggy was a good thing. She _had _wished for company, but Buggy hadn't been exactly what she had in mind. So far she had been treated to "101 Glorious Conquests by the Infamous Captain Buggy the Clown," and had felt like ripping her hair out by "Glorious Conquest #2."

One morning, after two weeks or so when Alvida thought she couldn't take Buggy anymore, found herself rudely awakened from a very pleasant dream involving a dark, mysterious man lying a beach, by Buggy's all too familiar crying out.

"My ship! Look my ship!!"

Disgruntled, Alvida got up from her hammock, slipped on the floor in her bare feet, threw on her purple coat and ran up to the deck.

Buggy was standing on the ship's railing, looking through _her_ spyglass, (Where had he found it anyway?) and gazing a miniscule speck in the horizon.

"My ship! That's my ship!! Look!" he cried, thrusting the spyglass her.

Alvida raised the lens to her eye squinted into it. Sure enough, there was a large and very unattractive ship decked out like a circus tent with the figurehead of an elephant, anchored by a small island, that looked vaguely familiar.

But when they got to the ship, they found it completely deserted, not a sign of any of Buggy's crewmates anywhere. Buggy was in considerable distress, and didn't have any idea where his crew was or why his ship was even anchored on this island of all places. Alvida suggested they walk down the beach and look for his crew there, though she would have much rather told him "It was his problem, not hers," and sailed off leaving him with his abandoned ship.

They started down the beach. Alvida couldn't shake an odd feeling of déjà vu that she had been getting since they set foot on the island, but Buggy was carrying on about how "I'm sure they're here," and that "They wouldn't just leave the ship," and Alvida would just throw out an occasional "Oh yes," or "Of course," to give the illusion she was really listening.

As they rounded a slight turn in the beach by a grove of trees, they were both greeted by a rather peculiar sight. Alvida saw that a large wanted poster of Buggy had been crudely framed and mounted in the center of the beach, along with rather ugly potted sunflower and a burned-out jar of incense. Stranger still, were two men, lying sprawled across the beach, bruised, bloody, and unconscious, one with fuzzy white hair that covered his chest and face, and another with long dark hair and a blue and white patterned scarf.

Buggy let out a very melodramatic scream of anguish and ran over to the furry one and began sobbing over his body.

"Are they from your crew?" asked Alvida, bending over the one with long black hair.

Buggy nodded tearfully. "They were my first and second mate! This is Mohji the Lion Tamer, and that's Cabaji the Acrobat. And now they're dead!"

"I don't think so," said Alvida, poking the one called Cabaji in the ribs. "Hey you." she said poking a bit harder. "Are you alive, or not?"

She wasn't sure how much she was actually helping, but anything had to be better than Buggy, wailing and bemoaning over Mohji's body.

Cabaji suddenly groaned a little and swatted at Alvida's hand.

"Stop poking me." he muttered.

"Sorry," said Alvida, indignantly.

Cabaji sat up groggily and looked around, blinking in the sunlight.

"Good, you're not dead." said Alvida, nonchalantly. "Your captain will be pleased. He's performing a bit of a melodrama at the moment, and it's quite tiresome."

Cabaji stared at her with mixture of confusion and surprise.

"Uh…." he said, sounding highly embarrassed. "Were you the one….um…?"

"Poking you in the ribs?" said Alvida casually.

"Yeah. You've got some damn sharp nails."

"Really?" said Alvida, laughing and inspecting her nails. "I'll have to keep that in mind if I'm ever without a weapon. I'm Lady Alvida," she added. "The fairest maiden on all the seas, at your service."

"Cabaji the Acrobat, at _your_ service," he said gently taking her hand and kissing it. "I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, _Lady_ Alvida."

Alvida found herself blushing.

"Captain!! You're alive!?"

Alvida and Cabaji both turned to see Mohji, sitting upright and hugging Buggy, before he turned to survey them.

"And you've brought a hot chick with you?!" Mohji said, sounding absolutely delighted.

Alvida scowled.

"Captain!" cried Cabaji, jumping to his feet. "It was all his fault! I swear! Him and his stupid cat!"

"Ritchie's not a cat!" snarled Mohji, jumping up as well. "He's a domesticated lion!"

"Domesticated? Then explain why he nearly killed you!" yelled Cabaji.

"Shut up! Both of you!" Buggy yelled. "Mohji, tell me what happened."

"Oh sure." muttered Cabaji. "Pick the _first_ mate, never mind the second."

"Shut up and let Mohji talk!" said Buggy, but Alvida saw Cabaji roll his eyes.

"Well," said Mohji, calming down a bit. "We were chased out of the town by the villagers, so we took your ship and found this little island for the time being. We went to the village, but they threw us out too, so we ended up out here in the forest. We a big funeral for what was left of your body, and then Cabaji and I were having a duel to decide the next captain. Well, the battle went on for twelve hours, it was very intense, but I was clearly winning."

"Was not," cut in Cabaji. "I had you in a headlock."

"Shut up Cabaji!" said Buggy again, and Cabaji fell silent.

"But everyone had fallen asleep." continued Mohji, "And no one was really paying attention. And then-"

"Your stupid lion started sleepwalking!" said Cabaji cutting in again. "And it attacked us in its sleep!"

"WHAT?!" said Buggy, looking shocked, though Alvida was finding the story all rather amusing. "Are saying that a sleepwalking lion took out my first and second mate?!"

Cabaji glared at Mohji.

"Well," said Mohji sheepishly, "Ritchie doesn't really know his own strength at times, you know…sometimes he gets carried away, but I mean..."

"He nearly killed you and you're still sticking up for him?!" cried Cabaji exasperatedly.

"Enough! Both of you!" said Buggy, looking absolutely livid, and it was all Alvida could do to keep from laughing.

"Where is Ritchie and the rest of crew now, and where is my body?"

"Well," said Mohji tentatively. "After the fight was over and Ritchie became captain everyone just sort of left us on the beach and forgot about us. But they're probably still on the island, and your body's probably with them.

"You let a lion become captain!?" Buggy practically shouted.

"Well," said Mohji cowering. "He won the fight fair and square."

"See!" cried Cabaji. "He still sticks up for the lion! All he cares about is the lion!!"

"Alright." said Buggy in a voice of forced calm. "With Ritchie leading the crew they can't have gone far. So we'll just have to search the island until we find them."

Alvida begrudgingly followed Buggy all over the island, with Cabaji and Mohji close behind. This was not at all what she had had in mind. When she had agreed to bringing Buggy back to his crew she hadn't counted on traipsing all over an island looking for a lion and a bunch of pirates. They began walking up a long slope. Cabaji and Mohji had long since stopped bickering, which was a relief, but the silence that followed was a dull and uncomfortable one. They continued their hike up the slope when Alvida suddenly become aware of what sounded like a bunch of people yelling.

"Listen." she said, breaking the awkward silence. "I think I hear them."

Buggy, Cabaji and Mohji paused to listen, and voices became louder, clearly in considerable distress.

"That's got to be them." said Buggy. "But why are they yelling?"

"Maybe Ritchie started sleepwalking again." said Cabaji, as Alvida stifled a giggle. "If that's the case there might not be much left of the crew by the time he wakes up."

"Shut up!" growled Mohji.

"Well whatever's going on, let's get to the top of this slope and maybe we can see them from there." said Alvida, quickly taking charge before more arguments could ensue.

The four of them ran to the top of the slope and looked down to the valley below, where the sounds seem to be coming from. Alvida was stunned, at what she saw, it ranking right up there with Buggy and the giant crab.

An enormous pot of some sort was sitting in the center of a large clearing. What looked like the whole of Buggy's crew was all crammed inside, along with one lion, (most likely Ritchie) all screaming highly dramatically. What looked like another crew of pirates were all gathered around the pot and stoking a fire beneath it. One of the strange pirates had broken away from the group and was poking what looked like a decapitated body, without hands and feet.

"That's my body!" cried Buggy. "Hey, you! Down there! Stop poking my body!"

"Shush!" said Alvida, annoyed. "You'll give us away!" She stared in disgust at the odd pirates gathered around Buggy's crew.

"Are they seriously going to eat you're crew?" she said, staring in sick fascination. "Do you think they're cannibals?"

"Looks like it." said Cabaji grimly. "I'll bet they get some real quality meat of Ritchie." he said with a grin at Mohji. "Man, I wish I was down there, haven't you wondered what lion tastes like? Yum! I bet you could make all sort of stuff! Lion steaks, and lion burgers, and lion ribs, and lion…"

Alvida found herself resisting the urge to laugh again.

"How about I push you off the slope and let them eat you too?" snarled Mohji, cutting Cabaji off.

"Enough!" said Buggy. "We can get my body back and save the crew at the same time!"

"How?" Alvida asked perturbed.

"Watch me." said Buggy with a smile.

Alvida watched in slight horror as Buggy's torso sprang to life beneath them, and began attacking the cannibal pirates of its on accord. It was extremely grotesque, to watch this, headless body flying about and attacking things, and Alvida was quite disgusted, whereas Cabaji and Mohji seemed used to seeing their captain do this kind of thing all the time.

After laying about the pirates and knocking over the pot to free the crew, the body then flew to the top of the slope. Alvida jumped back, more grossed out than scared, and not particularly keen to be so close to Buggy's floating body. Alvida watched as his head, hands, and feet now joined the body and Alvida was actually able to take a good look at him.

He had the standard build of any pirate, tall and tough-looking, but that still didn't change the fact for her that he was dressed as a weird cross between a clown and pirate.

Meanwhile below them, Buggy's crew was ecstatic. Cheering and yelling, evidently realizing that their captain wasn't dead and had come to save them along with their first and second mate who they had left for dead. Alvida wondered how she must look to the crew. Just some random woman Buggy had brought with him standing off to the side.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" Buggy yelled down to his crew below him, as they cheered.

A short battle soon followed. Alvida, along with Buggy, Cabaji and Mohji quickly took out the cannibal pirates. Alvida had left her mace on the ship, but made short work with her pistol, while Buggy split into several pieces and attacked several pirates at once. Mohji and Cabaji were laying about others with swordplay and other various attacks, and in no time at all, the cannibal pirates were all either dead or out cold.

The crew was ecstatic over Buggy's return. Mohji seemed to have forgiven Cabaji and was hugging and crying all over him, while Cabaji seemed to be putting up with it for the most part. Everyone one was cheering and laughing and celebrating for their captain. Alvida, unsure what to do next, just sort of hung of to the side, while everyone cheered for Buggy.

"_Why couldn't my crew have been like this?"_ thought Alvida a little bit of jealousy.

* * *

A huge celebration soon followed, with dancing, food, music and plenty of liquor. Alvida just sort of hung around, not knowing anyone and feeling very out of place. The crew had emphatically dubbed her "Alvida nee-san," which she took in stride, hoping they had meant it as a term of affection. It was one of the few times in her life she could remember feeling shy. Everyone seemed happy but her.

She didn't really care if she and Buggy had a deal to look for Luffy. She didn't particularly care about either of them anymore. Buggy or Luffy. Why she had started out looking for Luffy was still a mystery to her. She could go back to her ship and sail off on her own again and be perfectly happy.

"_Well, almost perfectly happy."_ she thought. She'd still be lonely, but she could deal with that, couldn't she?

She turned to leave, but on second thought decided to bring some of the wine from the party with her. Buggy wouldn't care. Taking several bottles of the fancier wine, she turned and walked back to the beach where her ship was.

No one noticed her, or so she thought.

* * *

**So….the pairing is next chapter. The pairing…"never written before," it's totally true. Aren't you excited?! **

**You have a very limited number of characters as to who it could be, (about four, two of them you should be able to easily eliminate) and I have dropped some very obvious hints. **

**I welcome any "suspicions" and "speculations" that you might have. You want to read the pairing don't you? So please R&R! **


	14. Chapter 14

**It's time for the pairing!! Oh my gosh, are you excited or what?! I've been waiting all week to post, I thought today would never come! Finally! The pairing! I thank the people who reviewed and expressed their views on the pairing. Most of them were right, as I had greatly hoped. I didn't want the pairing to just come randomly. So, I want you to enjoy my absolute favorite pairing in all of One Piece, and I as said, this pairing has never been written, until now!!**

* * *

Alvida thought her ship looked so beautiful in the moonlight, and faint music from the party could be heard in the distance. She sat down on the beach, kicked off her sandals and felt the warm sand between her bare feet, letting it slide off her skin. She withdrew one of her bottles of wine, tilted her head back and drank deeply, allowing that magic and thrill of adventure wash over her, as it had before. Still, there was something strangely familiar about this island, but she still couldn't quite comprehend it.

"Going so soon?"

Alvida spun around. Cabaji was standing right behind her smiling slightly, the moonlight shining off his jet-black hair.

"Oh, Cabaji." she said startled. She stood up quickly, surprised and a little taken aback.

"What are you doing here?" she asked suspiciously, taking a bit of a step back. "Were you following me?"

"I just wondered where you were going." said Cabaji with an innocent shrug.

"I don't belong with your crew." said Alvida, shrugging herself. "I don't really know what I want to do right now, so I'm just going to sail."

"By yourself?" said Cabaji. "You must get pretty lonely."

"Yeah, well I'm used to it." said Alvida with a bit of a sigh.

"Someone a lovely as you shouldn't be so lonely." murmured Cabaji taking a step closer.

Alvida took a step back, startled. _"What had he meant by that?"_

"I wasn't always this pretty." Alvida found herself saying, twisting her hair nervously.

Cabaji was silent a moment.

"Why are you here?" he said, finally. "I mean, a rogue pirate roaming the East Blue. Don't you have a crew?"

"Why do you want to know?" said Alvida becoming a bit defensive.

"I'm just curious that's all." said Cabaji. "I mean, I'm not going to force you to tell me or anything."

"My crew committed mutiny." said Alvida, trying to make it sound like it was no big deal.

"And yet you're still alive, and have your ship?" Cabaji asked. "That doesn't make much sense."

"That's because my crew is dead." Alvida murmured, trying to keep her voice steady. "I…I killed them."

"Your whole crew?" said Cabaji, looking stunned.

Alvida nodded.

"I just…"she began, but was unable to think of what to say. She looked down at her hands and realized they were trembling.

Cabaji suddenly grasped her shaking hands.

"It's alright, whatever happened." said Cabaji softly.

Alvida was stunned. She pulled her hands away quickly.

"You barely know me." said Alvida defensively, "Why are you asking me all this, and why are you so interested in me?"

"_What's with this guy? Who does he think he is?" _she thought as she stared back at him, but there was a part of her that seemed to take comfort in his presence, though she tried to ignore it.

"I told you I wouldn't make you tell me anything." said Cabaji.

"You didn't answer my second question." said Alvida.

"Well, what do you think?" asked Cabaji.

"Because I'm pretty." said Alvida coolly. "Figures."

"I've learned to look beyond the superficial." said Cabaji, staring her straight in the eyes. "I've learned the hard way what happens when you misjudge a person's character."

Alvida saw his hand move briefly to his waist, were she could make out in the dim moonlight a jagged scar, barely healed.

She looked at Cabaji in disbelief. She couldn't figure him out. She had only just met him today, but somehow he seemed to understand her, and respect her, and not just for whatever she looked like. And there was something else about him that gave her a strange unfamiliar feeling. One of comfort and of peace, something she hadn't been able to feel for a long time. It scared and tantalized her all at once. Part of her wanted to run to her ship and sail away, and leave Cabaji and everyone else behind, but another part wanted Cabaji to seize her hands again and comfort her from the lurking shadows of loneliness that had always clouded her life.

"_How can I feel this way about someone I just met?"_ she thought, as she struggled to comprehend these feelings.

"Let's dance." said Cabaji.

"What?" said Alvida, jerked out of her reverie.

"_Did he just ask me to dance?"_

"Let's dance." said Cabaji simply.

"I don't dance." said Alvida, saying the first excuse that came into her head and backing up a little. "I don't know how."

"I'm an acrobat. I can teach anyone said Cabaji laughing a bit.

"There's no music." said Alvida.

"Who says you need music to dance?" said Cabaji.

"What if someone finds us?" said Alvida.

"Then someone finds us." said Cabaji. "Besides, everyone else is dancing, and they'll all be too drunk to care anyway."

Alvida stared Cabaji in the eye. She didn't know what to do. A part of her was holding her back, terrified of the prospect of taking such a small risk.

"I'm scared." she murmured, her voice barely a whisper.

Cabaji gently took her hands again and stared straight into her deep green eyes, and Alvida found she could not look away, and nor did she want to.

"Don't be." he whispered.

So Alvida danced, all night. Just she and Cabaji on the beach. Spinning, laughing and whirling about on the beach, and Alvida found herself completely at ease, even with this almost total stranger. As soon as she had begun to dance, Alvida found her fear of Cabaji had vanished, replaced by a passionate feeling of happiness she had not felt in a long time.

They danced slow and fast, to unheard music, and once or twice, Cabaji's hands met hers. They danced until they were giddy, breathless and collapsed on the sand, shaking with laughter.

"So I've spilled out my whole past to you." said Alvida, passing Cabaji one of the wine bottles. "So tell me about yourself."

"There's not much to tell." said Cabaji with a shrug.

"Come on, there's got to be something." said Alvida, drinking deeply from her bottle. "Buggy says you're an acrobat, right?"

Cabaji nodded.

"Well then perform for me!" said Alvida, her eyes sparkling and her cheeks flushed pink from the dancing and too much wine.

"Well what do you want me to do?" asked Cabaji somewhat shyly.

"Anything! I don't care!" said Alvida.

"I usually use my acrobatics to attack." said Cabaji.

"Go on!" said Alvida indignantly. "You can just show me something simple. I just want to see you perform. I danced for you, so now you get to return the favor."

Cabaji paused a moment, seemingly thinking.

He tilted his head back and reached into his mouth. Alvida watched in fascination as he withdrew from his throat a long gleaming sword. She applauded in delight, her eyes wide.

"It's real." he said, tossing the sword to Alvida, who caught it deftly. "It doesn't bend or collapse or anything like that. And I always have it with it me so I can be ready to fight if I need to."

"Really?" said Alvida, handing it back to Cabaji. "It's always in your throat? That's kind of creepy."

Cabaji nodded. "It's one of my simpler tricks. I can ride a unicycle stuff like that, but my more extensive acrobatics I use when I'm fighting."

"Where'd you learn all this?" asked Alvida.

"Well, my brother and I were street performers." said Cabaji, after thrusting his sword back down his throat. "We had an act we'd do with a whole bunch of stunts and people who were walking by would sometimes pay us money."

"So what made you choose become a pirate?" asked Alvida.

"I didn't choose." said Cabaji bitterly. "About 10 years ago I was press-ganged into Buggy's crew because of my acrobatic skills, and I was eventually able to work my way up to a position of second mate because I learned to incorporate swordplay with my agility and acrobatics."

"What happened to your brother?" asked Alvida quietly.

"I don't really know." said Cabaji in a toneless voice "He's probably still performing somewhere. But this scarf was his, and so is my sword."

Alvida didn't know what to say.

"Its okay." said Cabaji with a shrug. "It wasn't so bad. Things started getting better for me once I started moving up through the ranks. But Mohji's just a jerk. How he got to be first mate I'll never know, he was with Buggy before I was.

"He's really kind of weird." said Alvida, remembering him and his highly unattractive hair.

"He spends me more time playing with hair then his does working around ship." said Cabaji, laughing a bit. "I think he must have been a hair stylist in a previous life or something."

Alvida burst out laughing.

"Oh Cabaji." she sighed, staring up at the stars. "Thank you tonight."

"Are you still going to leave?" he asked.

Alvida paused a moment.

"Well, I guess I could hang around a little while." she murmured.

She stared up at the stars for a few minutes, when a flood of realization dawned on her.

This was the island that had been her home.

This was the beach that had belonged to her and Cobyashi.

* * *

**Never heard of an AlxCa pairing, have you? If you have…tell me. Seriously. So I want your feedback. Please review and tell me what you think of the pairing. Are you like me and love the pairing and think Alvida and Cabaji are destined for each other, or do you think it is absolutely ridiculous and that Alvida and Cabaji have no chemistry whatsoever. I ask you that if you've read this far, to please contribute and tell me what you think of the pairing, because the pairing is the base of the entire story. If you review any chapter at all in this story, please review this one. **


	15. Chapter 15

**Hi everyone! So now you know the pairing! Thanks to those of you who reviewed! This next chapter is fairly uneventful, the pairing develops somewhat and we will soon find ourselves in yet another scene ****directly**** from One Piece! (That's next chapter though, you'll know what I'm talking about once you've read this one!)**

* * *

The next morning went by quickly. Alvida and Cabaji went and joined the rest if the crew, most of them still hung over from the night before. Buggy announced that they would head to Loguetown to look for Luffy, considering its location was close to the Grand Line so there might be a chance that Luffy would be near there. If they couldn't find Luffy there, they would continue their journey to the Grand Line

While Buggy and his crew were readying his ship, Alvida tentatively approached Cabaji.

"Will you sail with me?" she asked, aware of that odd sensation in the pit of her stomach again. "I mean, on my ship for the journey to Loguetown? If you can't that's okay, but…"

She paused, butterflies in her stomach, as Cabaji looked back at her.

"I would greatly appreciate your company."

Cabaji knelt and gently kissed her hand.

"It would be an honor Milady."

* * *

They set sail behind Buggy's ship about midday. Alvida and Cabaji spent the day talking and laughing while Alvida steered and Cabaji even performed for her, much to her delight.

Later in the evening they made anchor in the middle of the ocean to break for the night. Alvida set up a hammock in spare cabin for Cabaji, (Seeing as she didn't have a crew anymore there was plenty of space.) and they then sat down for dinner.

"Do you ever drink anything besides wine?" asked Cabaji, as she set a bottle on the table.

"Never." said Alvida. "I've been drinking it since I was a teenager. And I really hate tea.

Cabaji laughed.

"So tell me about the Sube-Sube fruit." he asked nonchalantly. "What does it do, besides change your appearance? I'm no expert on devil fruit or anything like that."

"I'm not really either." said Alvida. "But I have a book that's come in handy."

She crossed to her bookshelf, withdrew the book and sat back down.

"Right here." she said, opening to the page she had left marked. "It says 'The Sube-Sube Fruit- a Devil Fruit which completely erases friction of one's body giving them smooth and slippery skin immune to all physical attacks, with the sole exception being seastone. In addition, the Sube-Sube Fruit will grant whoever eats it phenomenal beauty.'"

"Really?" said Cabaji with interest. "Smooth and slippery skin that's immune to all physical attacks? So nothing can hurt you?"

"I don't think so." said Alvida slowly. "There's some sort of rock called seastone, that can affect anyone with devil fruit powers, but I'm pretty sure all that would do is make me weak. And it's pretty rare, so I'm not too concerned."

She picked up a knife off the table and struck her arm with it. It bent a bit and then slid harmlessly off.

"Impressive." said Cabaji in awe.

"I can't say I care too much." said Alvida, nonchalantly. "I mean, it makes it impossible to walk unless you're wearing sandals."

"Really?" said Cabaji, looking intrigued.

"Yeah," sighed Alvida. "I've tried to walk barefoot and get used to it, but I always slide and lose my balance so I don't bother."

"But it you have devil fruit powers," said Cabaji, looking thoughtful. "You might as well make the most of them."

"How?" asked Alvida, perplexed. "What am I supposed to do? Slide everywhere instead of walking like a normal person?"

"That's a great idea!" said Cabaji suddenly.

"I was joking." said Alvida, taken aback.

"Stand up." said Cabaji, getting up and walking around the table to Alvida. "I want you to try something."

Alvida, utterly nonplussed stood up.

"Now take off your sandals." he said. "Don't worry, I won't let you fall."

Alvida reluctantly removed her sandals. She felt the strange slippery feeling on her feet, threatening to make her fall, but then she felt Cabaji's hand on her shoulders, steadying her balance and she relaxed.

"I'm going to push you." said Cabaji. "Just stay steady and try to keep your balance. I want to see if you're going to glide or not."

"Glide?" asked Alvida, completely confused now.

"Just trust me." said Cabaji. "And if you start to fall I promise I'll catch you."

"Promise" asked Alvida warily, not feeling exactly comfortable with Cabaji's idea.

"Promise." said Cabaji.

Alvida closed her eyes as she felt Cabaji's gentle push on her back. She felt herself slowly begin to move, though she wasn't moving her feet. She opened her eyes and found herself sliding smoothly across the cabin floor.

"I'm moving." she murmured in amazement.

"You're gliding." said Cabaji.

In her excitement, Alvida lost her footing and started to fall, but Cabaji was already there and caught her smoothly in his arms.

"Thanks." she stammered, blushing as he helped her back to her feet.

"Imagine what would happen if you keep your balance long enough to build up speed." said Cabaji eagerly. "You could go as fast and as far as you wanted."

Alvida considered it for a moment. Cabaji had a significant point. Why not make the most of the abilities she had gained from the Sube-Sube fruit? And this idea Cabaji had come up with, however strange it might seem, actually sounded pretty unique.

"Cabaji" said Alvida slowly. "Will you help me?"

Cabaji made an elegant bow.

"I'm at your service Milady."

* * *

Over the next few weeks on their course to Loguetown, Alvida and Cabaji took every free moment to practice and refine Alvida abilities. After a few days, she had managed to slide across a room at a steady speed and keep her balance throughout. Then Cabaji had another brilliant idea, and they then designed a large fancy wooden slide. Alvida and Cabaji would take it out on the deck at night, and Alvida would climb to the top and slide down. She fell an awful lot a first, but as the weeks went by with Cabaji's help she was able build up astonishing speed and glide from one end of the deck to the other, but they had yet to test it out on land.

Cabaji then said that all special abilities and attacks needed a good name. (He even had names for each his different acrobatics.) Alvida, remembering painfully Luffy's "Gomu-Gomu Pistol" and also Buggy's various "Bara-Bara" attacks, agreed. Together, the two of them came up "Sube-Sube Spur," and then also named the slide "Gelande."

After about three weeks or so, they finally made it Loguetown. Alvida had been to finally be able to try out the Gelande for real with Cabaji, but Buggy said they would all be keeping a low profile because the captain of the Loguetown naval base was rumored to have devil fruit powers, and due to the prices on both his and Alvida's heads, he insisted on staying at the harbor while the rest of the crew went of the crew went out to get supplies.

So Alvida and Buggy waited on the beach by the harbor, along with Mohji and Cabaji who were also staying behind. It was fairly boring, sitting around watching Mohji braid Ritchie's mane, who didn't seem to be enjoying it all that much. Alvida was about to take a look around with Cabaji, not particularly caring about the price on her head, when two of Buggy's crew ran up the beach, panting and evidently desperate to say something.

"Captain!" one of them cried, out of breath. "He's here!"

"Who?" asked Buggy.

"Him!" gasped the other. "The rubber-man!"

"LUFFY?!" yelled Buggy, as Alvida Cabaji and Mohji looked up in surprise. "He's here in Loguetown?!"

"We saw him!" the first one said. "He's over at the execution scaffold! And there a pirate ship over at the other harbor, the skull and crossbones was wearing a straw hat!!"

"He has a ship now?!" Buggy continued yelling. "Since when does he have a ship?!"

"Stop yelling." said Alvida, thoroughly annoyed by now.

"Well then what are we waiting for!?" he cried, ignoring Alvida. "LET'S GO KILL HIM!!"

"We can't just barge in there." said Alvida, rolling her eyes. "There'll be lots of people, and probably Marines too. We need some sort of plan."

Everyone looked around at each other.

"You said you were looking for Luffy when you saved me." said Buggy.

"Sort of, I guess." said Alvida, who had completely forgotten why she have ever wanted to find Luffy. 'But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Wait." said Cabaji. "You've met Luffy before, right?"

"Yeah." said Alvida, not sure where this was going.

"Do you think he'd recognize you?" asked Cabaji.

"I doubt it." she said.

Cabaji was silent for a moment.

"I've got an idea." he said quietly. "I say we have a bit of fun with this opportunity."

"Fun?" said Mohji sarcastically, still intent on braiding Ritchie's mane. "How?"

"Listen." said Cabaji.

Everyone grouped around him, and listened intently as his whispered the plan, though there was no one else on the beach.

"I like it." said Buggy. "Nice work."

"Yeah, for once you had a good idea." added Mohji.

Alvida just stared at Cabaji, not sure whether to take him seriously or not.

"You've got to be joking." she said, trying not to laugh. "I'm not going to stride into town square and pretend to be in love with that idiot while you all get ready to attack."

"I'm dead serious." said Cabaji. "I know you can pull it off convincingly enough, you've just got to keep Luffy distracted, that's all."

Alvida shook her head, trying to hide a smile.

"I must be crazy to do this." she said, actually laughing. "Okay then, I will. But Luffy and the rest of Loguetown will be getting quite a…"

She paused.

"Quite a…_performance._"

* * *

**Ahh…that famous Loguetown scene all those chapters ago. We'll finally get to see Luffy again! And of course, Zoro...how will Cabaji take Zoro's reappearance? (Did any of you take note to that scar on the lower part of his chest?) Sanji will be there too, but I'm sorry to say there will be no appearances made by Nami or Usopp. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope all my readers have a wonderful holiday season! **


	16. Chapter 16

**The dialogue that is actually used straight from One Piece in the following chapter was quoted directly from "One Piece Manga" from MSN groups, and other manga sites. I made minimal edits to some of the fan translations, but for the most part the dialogue and quotes remain the same as they do in the original manga. If you have any problems with the quoted dialogue or think the translations I used were incorrect please let me know.**

* * *

About ten minutes later Alvida had donned her pink shawl and was casually strolling through the streets of Loguetown, her mace carefully hidden beneath the folds of the fabric. Buggy had actually listened to Cabaji for once. Mohji and Ritchie were off to burn Luffy's ship, Buggy was gathering the crew back together, and Cabaji already on his way to the execution scaffold by a different way. However when Cabaji had said goodbye to her and set off for the scaffold, Alvida had a quick word with the two pirates who had reported seeing Luffy.

"Listen," she had said. "On my ship there's a big fancy wooden plank. It's called a Gelande. When you come, bring it with you and be ready to set it up should I tell you. Got it?"

The two had been more than willing to carry out Alvida's request and Alvida had then set off for the execution scaffold.

She was trying to act casual, but she kind of stuck out in a crowd. She noticed many people staring at her in passing, but she averted her eyes and kept right on walking determined not to be sidetracked. One guy with blonde hair and strange, curly eyebrows had actually tried to follow her, but she lost him by a fishery when he stopped to look at a large and rather ugly-looking fish.

After a bit Alvida was finally at town square and the execution scaffold. There was a quite a number of people strolling around. Luffy might be hard to find. Alvida looked up at the scaffold and blinked in surprise.

Luffy was standing up there, on top of the execution scaffold, bold as ever. Alvida couldn't believe it. Just standing there, seemingly enjoying the view. This really could be a lot of fun. She casually worked her way to the front of the crowd, still ignoring the stares. A police officer was standing there and yelling at Luffy to get down. This could complicate things, it needed to be just her and Luffy, without any other distractions, at least until Cabaji or Buggy got there.

"That's the special execution scaffold!" the officer was yelling up at Luffy, who didn't really seem to be listening. Alvida subtly drew her mace from beneath her shawl.

"It's a historical landmark that belongs to the World Government!" he continued. "Come down right--"

But his words were cut off by Alvida's mace colliding with the side of his head. It made a sort of crunching noise as it made contact with his skull and he collapsed in puddle of blood before her. But he wasn't dead. Alvida knew she hadn't hit him nearly hard enough for that.

"Next time be more polite Mr. Policeman." said Alvida silkily, swinging her mace onto her shoulder and stepping over the body. The crowd quickly parted, running out of her way and leaving the path to the scaffold clear.

The only advice Cabaji had given her was, _"Pretend to be in love."_

Alvida smiled. It was time to put on a show.

"I've been looking for you for a long time!" she cried up to Luffy, who was staring at her blankly. "Don't tell me that you've already forgotten me."

The stunned and terrified looks of the crowd had suddenly turned to ones of awe and love. Men were gaping at her and women too, their eyes wide with jealousy, or other emotions Alvida didn't care to fathom. The crowd was murmuring with admiration, and Alvida loved it.

"_I should have been an actress." _she told herself, smiling with satisfaction.

Meanwhile Luffy was staring down at her looking thoroughly perturbed.

"I've never known a beautiful lady like you before." he said sounding confused. "Who are you?"

"Well," said Alvida pretending to take offence. "I'll never forget you, because you were the first man ever punch my face."

"What?" gasped Luffy as the crowd glared angrily up at him. "I punched your face?"

"Yes, your heavy punch on my face," sighed Alvida, stroking the side of her face where Luffy had hit her. "I can still feel it."

"Now tell me!" Alvida cried, turning to face the crowd and spreading her arms wide. "Who is the fairest maiden on all the seas?"

The result was instantaneous. Alvida nearly jumped back in surprise. The crowd practically chanted as one, "THAT MUST BE YOU!" Several people towards the front the crowd actually got on their knees. Alvida was stunned, but continued.

"That's right." she said, turning back to Luffy. "There is no man in this world who would ever try to defy me. And I like a strong man. Luffy! You must be mine!"

Everything was going perfectly. Luffy was starting to panic now. It was all going rather well, considering Alvida was making everything up on the spot, but the crowd was loving it and really being a great audience. "Ooo-ing" and "Ahh-ing" at all the right times, and practically swooning over her. She thought it was hilarious, but she had to keep Luffy distracted.

"Shut up! I don't care!" he yelled down at her. "Who are you anyway?"

"Still can't remember?" laughed Alvida.

"Freeze! Don't move!" came a loud voice. Alvida spun around to see several policemen running towards her with guns raised.

"You're under arrest!" One of them yelled at her. "We're going to arrest you under the charge of hurting a government officer. And that boy over there, get down!"

"_Play it cool,"_ Alvida told herself, _"But keep up the act."_

"You want to arrest me?" she asked, her eyes wide putting on her most innocent face, despite the fact she was holding a mace, of all things. Though as soon as the officers got a good look at her they all stopped short and just sort of stared at her.

"Wow," she heard one of them say. "This is difficult! She's so beautiful!"

"So what?! Just arrest her!" said the one who was evidently the assistant inspector, but Alvida could see him sweating in the wake of her beauty just as much as the rest of them.

Suddenly, the fountain in the center of the square that had been trickling away serenely throughout Alvida's entire performance exploded. The screams of the officers were lost in the flood of water as civilians ran to get out of the way.

So Buggy was here already, Alvida noted to herself, and had decided to announce his arrival by blowing up a fountain.

"Showoff." she muttered under her breath.

But Alvida barely had time to notice a large chunk of the fountain was flying straight for her. The crowd was yelling, and Alvida was about to run out of the way, when she was suddenly struck by an idea. Nervous as she was, she closed her eyes and stood stock still, waiting for the fountain to strike her.

It hit her in the side, and shattered into two pieces, which flew right on by her.

"That's dangerous!" Alvida called behind her as she heard the pieces of the fountain crash in a building. She hoped the people watching had enough sense to stop gawking at her and get out of the way.

"What was that?" gasped Luffy, staring at Alvida, looking actually scared for the first time.

But Alvida could now see Buggy and the rest of the crew coming through the wreckage of the fountain wearing dark cloaks.

"Sorry about that." said Buggy, looking amused at the disturbance he had caused. "Good thing your smooth skin can't be scarred anymore…"

He paused.

"…_Lady Alvida."_ he finished.

"Alvida?!" gasped Luffy staring wildly around. "Where is she?!"

Alvida rolled her eyes. It was bad enough Buggy had gone and told Luffy who she was before she could, but Luffy just couldn't figure out how to play along.

"I'm Alvida!" she yelled. "Right here! You imbecile!!"

"Really?" said Luffy peering down at her. "You've…um…changed a lot…" His voice trailed off.

"_Oh, you bet I look different."_ thought Alvida with a smile._ "Why don't I __really_ _show you?"_

She whipped off her pink shawl with a flourish to fully reveal herself, bikini top and all.

"Nice of you to notice!" she laughed. "I've changed because I ate a devil fruit called the Sube-Sube fruit! From now on, no matter how you try to hurt me, you can't scar my skin."

"Sorry," she continued as the crowd began to swoon anew in the background. "But my beauty hasn't changed a bit. The only thing that's different is…"

Alvida paused, trying to think of something absurd to say.

"I lost all my freckles!!" she cried, trying to keep from laughing.

"I don't think that's exactly your problem." said Luffy.

"Anyway, if you lose to these men," said Alvida gesturing to Buggy's crew behind her. "You can't become my man! I work with them because we both have the same goal, which is to search for you!"

She stepped aside to allow Buggy to step forward.

"Since the day you defeated me!" Buggy cried throwing off his cloak. "I made a vow that I would kill you one day and make it back to my crew…"

But Alvida wasn't really listening. All she really heard from Buggy was 'blah, blah, blah, blah……' She was watching for Cabaji. He wouldn't be with the rest of the crew. Buggy's crew surrounded the scaffold and blocking off the now terrified civilians as Buggy continued his monotonous speech.

Luffy was still just sort of standing there, hardly seeming to care or at all surprised to see Buggy.

Then Alvida saw Cabaji coming up behind Luffy on the execution scaffold. Luffy was not paying any attention whatsoever, and before he could react Cabaji had knocked him over and thrust his head and hands into and execution stockade. Luffy just sort of gaped in a state of shock while Cabaji calmly sat down and muttered something to him.

"Nice one, Cabaji!" Alvida called up to him. He grinned down at her.

"…and I will now execute you in front of all these people!" Buggy was shouting. "You should be proud to die in the same spot as the greatest pirate!"

Cabaji made an elegant and acrobatic leap from the top of the platform to land right next to Alvida.

"Nice." she said, impressed.

"Yeah, well I get lots of practice." he said grinning. "You were amazing though! I was watching the entire time. You almost had me convinced."

He paused a moment.

"You were just _acting_, weren't you?"

"Oh please." said Alvida, folding her arms and pretending to be annoyed, but secretly enjoying the joke all the same.

Buggy was really milking for all it was worth, just as Alvida had been, only not nearly as effectively. He had evidently been rehearsing this speech for a long time.

"Because this pirate, Monkey D. Luffy has upset me," announced Buggy. "He will therefore be executed right here!"

Buggy's crew responded to this last statement by firing off their pistols and cheering very loudly about random things, while Alvida and Cabaji just sort of looked at each other.

Buggy was saying something to Luffy, who soon started arguing with him, but then Buggy yelled:

"I will now begin the execution in front of you all!"

Cabaji sighed. "I thought we were beginning the execution ten minutes ago." he said, the annoyance evident in his voice.

Alvida nodded in agreement. The sky was also beginning to darken and thick clouds were rolling in. Alvida hoped Buggy would stop playing the 'glorious executioner' and get on with it because she didn't fancy getting caught in the rain.

But Buggy and Luffy were now arguing again and it was clear that this wasn't going to be over anytime soon.

Cabaji cleared his throat and put on a grim expression, staring up at Luffy.

"So, it looks like whoever dares to go against us will end up like this." he said, shaking his head.

Cabaji was too funny when he was trying to be serious, so Alvida had to join in.

"This guy, who I have estimated with such a high value." she said, heaving a dramatic sigh, her voice becoming mock tragic. "Will his life end right here?"

"You sound so depressed your love is about to be killed." Cabaji said in response.

"I know." said Alvida, brushing nonexistent tears from her eyes. "I don't know if I can take it. "Comfort me Cabaji, in my darkest hour of sorrow."

He gave her a somewhat awkward pat on the arm, and they both laughed.

"Any last words?" Buggy was saying to Luffy, cutting any further conversation short. "There a lot of people here." He paused a moment. "Never mind that, no one cares."

But that didn't stop Luffy. He opened his mouth and practically screamed:

"I AM THE PERSON WHO WILL BECOME KING OF THE PIRATES!!"

The crowd reacted in shock and disbelief, chuckling amongst each other.

"Well good for you." said Alvida, more to Cabaji than anyone. "It's always nice to have goals in life."

"Is that all you have to say?" laughed Buggy, raising his sword and preparing to strike. The clouds above were growing steadily darker.

An unfamiliar voice rose up above the crowd.

"STOP THAT!!"

"Sanji! Zoro! Help!" yelled Luffy suddenly.

Alvida spun around to see two men, one with a black bandana, a green sash and three swords, and who else but that blonde guy who had followed her in the street earlier. They were cutting a wide path through the crowd and something about the one with three swords made Alvida's blood run cold. Who was he?

"So you've come Zoro!" laughed Buggy. "But you're a second too late!"

"Tear down the scaffold!" he yelled through the sword clenched in his teeth.

They tore through the crowd, and Alvida, began to panic for the first time.

"Let's get them!" she yelled at Buggy's crew, and they more than willingly obliged with cries of: "We shall kill then Alvida nee-san!"

But as Cabaji drew his sword, Alvida grabbed his arm.

"I don't want you to get hurt." she said.

"Don't you recognize Roronoa Zoro?" he said, staring at her, his eyes wide with an emotion Alvida couldn't read.

She was stunned, and she had never seen Cabaji like this.

"Roronoa Zoro, the bounty hunter?" she asked, staring at the man effortlessly cutting through the ranks of Buggy's crew.

"Let go of me Alvida." said Cabaji, his voice becoming cold and harsh. "I don't need your help. I won't misjudge him again."

Alvida didn't know what was wrong with Cabaji, but she felt an odd sensation of fear creep over her, as his dark eyes hardened.

Luffy was saying something up on the scaffold that Alvida couldn't hear, and everyone in the crowd was yelling as the bounty hunter and his crewmate tore through Buggy's crew. But as Cabaji wrenched his arm from Alvida's grasp, there was a deafening crash of and a bolt of lightning struck the execution scaffold.

Time seemed to freeze, as the platform caught fire and slowly came crashing to the ground. Alvida saw Buggy topple off the scaffold and Luffy was nowhere in sight.

_"So much for not getting caught in the rain." _Alvida thought miserably.

* * *

**Alright, this is not meant to be a dramatic cliffhanger. We all know what happens. I just needed someplace to break otherwise this would have been one massive chapter. Don't worry, you'll get the rest of the Loguetown arc next chapter, but it's not like it's going to be a huge surprise or anything because we all **_**know what happens!!**_** This chapter was also to set the record straight, Alvida is **_**not**_** in love with Luffy. Loguetown was just one big charade. That was what I thought when I first read it, and that's what I still think now. Alvida and Luffy make for a terrible pairing anyway. Trust me, I tried to write it, and turned into a terrible story with terrible plot and may it forever rot in my notebook because it will never, ever be posted. Never. Alvida and Luffy…no way. Never. She belongs with Cabaji. **


	17. Chapter 17

**The dialogue that is actually used straight from One Piece in the following chapter was quoted directly from "One Piece Manga" from MSN groups, and other online manga sites. I made minimal edits to some of the fan translations, but for the most part the dialogue and quotes remain the same as they do in the original manga. If you have any problems with the quoted dialogue or think the translations I used were incorrect please let me know.**

* * *

The execution scaffold was reduced to a smoldering pile of wood, as the rain beat down on them all. The crowd was completely silent as the heavy rainfall began to extinguish the fire. Luffy was no where in sight.

_"He's probably dead."_ Alvida thought solemnly. _"Even if Buggy hadn't managed to kill him before the lightning struck, there's no way he survived."_

But her thoughts were interrupted as Luffy suddenly emerged from the rubble. Grinning broadly, he picked up his straw hat and stuck it back on his head.

"Lucky me!" he laughed. "I made it."

Alvida just stood there, dumbstruck. Cabaji looked absolutely murderous, at Luffy and at not having a chance at Zoro while the rest of the crew just gawked with their mouths hanging open.

"Hey, do you believe in a god?" Alvida heard the other of Luffy's crewmates say to Zoro. Luffy was still laughing and hardly seemed to be taking this seriously.

"Don't be stupid." said Zoro, sheathing his swords. "Let's get out of this town before any Marines come."

"Surround and close off all the streets!! Capture the pirates!!"

Alvida was jolted out of her reverie to see dozens of Marine soldiers and running at them, fully armed.

"Here they come! Let's go!" cried Luffy to his two crewmates, seemingly enjoying himself. The three took off, tearing through the crowd with the Marines right behind them. However a fair number encircled Buggy's crew, and Alvida found herself suddenly fighting off a dozen or more Marines with her mace.

However Buggy was still alive. He staggered to his feet, shouting curses against Luffy.

"Stupid rubber-man!" he yelled.

"Captain, you're still alive?" Alvida heard Cabaji ask above the din of the fight.

"I won't die in a place like this!" Buggy shouted.

"Buggy!" Alvida cut in, quickly interrupting his rant. "These troops are from the Marines. If their captain comes out, we're in trouble!"

Alvida remembered that the captain of the base had devil fruit powers, according to Buggy, and she wasn't eager to find out what they might be.

Buggy rolled his eyes, seemingly ignoring the soldiers attacking his crew.

"I've never worried about the Marines." said Buggy. He suddenly whirled on one of his crew.

"Did you say I was bragging?!" Buggy yelled, grabbing him.

"I didn't say anything!" he whimpered.

Alvida was in no mood to deal with Buggy's paranoia, but Buggy was now launching into of his tiresome speeches of vengeance.

"Rubber-man and his friends can't get out of this town! Their ship must be burning now! Let's wreck everything and get out of here!"

Alvida didn't particularly feel like chasing after Luffy in the middle of the pouring rain. Then again, she didn't particularly feel like staying in the square to fend off the seemingly endless numbers of Marines.

But then an idea struck her.

She had brought it, why not use it?

"Prepare the Gelande!" she cried to the two she'd asked to bring it.

"Yes, Alvida nee-san!" they cried eagerly, hoisting up the great wooden board.

"_I don't get what's with Cabaji and Roronoa Zoro."_ she thought. "_But I'll show him what I can do."_

And with a graceful and acrobatic leap that Cabaji would have been proud of, Alvida mounted the top of the Gelande, whipped off her sandals and slid down.

"Sube-Sube Spur!" she cried. "No friction!"

The feeling was exhilarating, to be gliding at such a speed, faster than she had ever gone, and still maintaining her balance. It seemed to make no difference when her feet left the wood of the slide and met the ground. She simply continued sliding.

With the cheers of the crew in her ears, she knew she heard Cabaji amongst them. The whole experience gave her such a feeling of delight, even comparable to that of flying with the Scarlet Albatross. She was oblivious to the rain, and had even managed to completely ignore the fact that Buggy had turned himself into some sort of car.

But her joy was short lived.

A strange, white smoke seemed to materialize around her, completely surrounding her and knocking her over. She heard a deep and unfamiliar voice cry, "White Out!"

She quickly slipped on her sandals, so as to try and get a better footing and stand up, but she found herself unable to. She struggled to rise, but it seemed the smoke was pinning her to the ground. She couldn't figure how it was possible, but to her terror, she found herself completely paralyzed by the smoke.

She heard the crew screaming all around her. Evidently she wasn't the only one caught by the smoke. Her vision swimming in the hazy fog, she could only see shapes and shadows around her. She fought to break free from the smoke, but it was impossible. But the oddity of the situation, and the fact that she was being restrained by, smoke of all things both scared and perturbed her.

Someone yelled, "Fire!" and Alvida heard the sound of some sort of gun or firearm. But then something, cold hard coiled around her body, and she found herself in a metal net.

She suddenly found herself being dragged upright and thrown roughly against what felt like other people. Were they possibly Buggy's crew?

She realized she was right. The smoke began to fade and disband, and she found herself tied up back to back with Buggy, who was also in a net like hers. The whole of Buggy's crew was also been skillfully tied up and lassoed together into a large group by several longer ropes along with her and Buggy. Several Marines stood guard nearby, heavily armed.

Not wanting to show her fear to Buggy, Alvida merely feigned annoyance at the situation.

"This iron net is very strong." she said to Buggy. "And they used a very strange weapon to catch us."

"This is a hell net." said Buggy. "The Marines developed it to catch people with devil fruit powers."

"_Well, it certainly feels like hell, being stuck in this net in the pouring rain."_ thought Alvida. She was beginning to feel slightly lightheaded. Though she was still unfamiliar with the effects of seastone, she wondered if there was some form of it in the net.

"Hey, you want to head back?" She heard oneof the nearby Marines say. "They aren't going anywhere."

"Good idea." said another. "Commodore Smoker will be back once he tracks down that straw hat kid and his crew. He can take them to the base then."

Alvida automatically made the assumption that 'Commodore Smoker' was the captain at the base with devil fruit powers and perhaps responsible for the smoke. She didn't particularly care though, she was more pissed off about begin left in the rain by the Marines than anything else at the moment. She didn't particularly want to end up with hypothermia.

"Thanks for leaving us out here!" she yelled after them. They ignored her except for one who made a rude hand gesture in her direction. Alvida would have made one back if she wasn't stuck in the net.

She sat there, teeth chattering, freezing and soaking wet in the rain. She craned her neck around to try and look for Cabaji. She twisted and strained until she finally managed to look around her.

Cabaji was off to her left towards the edge of the group, tied up like the rest of them, his dark hair plastered to his face with rainwater.

"Cabaji!" she called to him, but he didn't seem to hear her. His chest was heaving with unsteady breaths and something dark trickled from the corner of his mouth. Was that blood?

"Cabaji!" Alvida yelled, in panic. "What is it?"

Again, Cabaji made no response. He shook his head violently, his shoulders rising and falling as he seemingly struggled to breathe. Then he tilted his head down, and his sword slid out of his mouth.

Alvida was completely stunned.

He paused a moment, his breathing becoming steady again. Then he leaned over and gripped the blade of the sword in his teeth and deftly tossed it over his shoulder. Alvida watched as he severed the ropes by rubbing them against the blade of the sword. As soon as he was free, he stood up and quickly slashed through the bonds of the crew nearest to him.

"Free the rest of the crew." he said as they stared back at him dumbstruck.

Cabaji then turned in her direction and struck the net with his sword. Alvida leaned away as best she could as metal struck metal and small sparks began flying as Cabaji sawed away at the net.

Finally, he wore a small whole in the mesh. He dropped his sword and began tearing at the wire with his hands, bending and stretching it until Alvida could throw the net off herself.

"Alvida, you alright?" Cabaji asked, extending a hand to help her up.

"I'm fine." she murmured, her voice somewhat shaky. "Just wet, that's all." she added with a forced laugh.

"You were amazing." said Cabaji.

"While it lasted." said Alvida murmured. She still felt somewhat uneasy. She looked away, trying to mask her emotions.

"I don't need your help. I won't misjudge him again."

"Hey, what's wrong?" asked Cabaji, looking concerned.

But any further conversation was cut short by Buggy, who had been freed in a similar fashion by one of the crew, though in more dispassionate manner.

"Back to the ship everyone!" he cried. "Before more Marines show up! We'll discuss what our next course of action there!"

He took off through the rain with the crew following. Alvida was about to follow, when Cabaji grabbed her arm.

"Let go of me Cabaji." she said coolly. She attempted to detach her arm but Cabaji held it firmly.

"What is it Alvida?" he asked.

Alvida wasn't sure what to say. He had just freed her, but what he had said to her just minutes before, she didn't know what to think. She had been so sure he was her friend. But for him to completely dismiss her concern like that…

"What I said earlier, is that it?" he asked, drawing her close.

Alvida looked up at him, not sure whether to break away or stay.

"I'm so sorry." he said sincerely. "I shouldn't have shut you out like that. I wanted revenge, it's a long story, but should never have said those things to you. I'm sorry."

Alvida heard the sincerity in his voice, and knew that he meant it. But why was Cabaji seeking revenge on Roronoa Zoro? She didn't want Cabaji to spend the rest of his following vengeance. She knew all too well what happened when you went down that path.

"Cabaji, I…" her voice trailed off, she didn't know what to say. And without realizing why, she found herself crying.

Alvida made to brush the tears from her cheeks, but Cabaji gently tilted her head up and stared into her deep emerald eyes, and she stared back.

And he kissed her.

But at the instant when their lips met, Alvida drew back, startled by a bitter and acrid taste.

"Cabaji, your mouth, it's--" she began

"Bleeding? I know." he said, almost smiling. "I'm just a little out of practice, that's all. I just cut the back of my throat."

He wiped a trickle of blood from his mouth.

"If you don't, I mean, it's okay." he said gently.

"No." said Alvida. "I do."

They embraced each other, no longer aware of the cold or the rain, only of each other. And as they kissed, Alvida felt such a feeling of peace and contentment, that she realized that what she had been searching and yearning for since Cobyashi's death, was not revenge, but love. Love was all she had ever sought for, she just hadn't known it.

But she also knew now, that she would have to help Cabaji face his own demons.


	18. Chapter 18

**Hi everyone!! This is a short chapter, and a little cliché on the romance, my apologies! Please enjoy!! The story will get much better soon!**

* * *

Part V

Alvida and Cabaji eventually made their way back to the harbor, hand in hand and laughing all the way there. When they arrived, that found that Buggy was busy yelling at Mohji, so they subtlety attempted to enter unnoticed.

"Where were you when we were stuck in the town square in the middle of the rain?!" he was yelling to a cowering Mohji. "How long does it take to light a ship on fire? You could have come and gotten us out of there!! What were you doing? Playing with the lion?!"

He turned to see Alvida and Cabaji who were trying to look casual and inconspicuous.

"Where were you two?" he asked, looking confused.

"Oh, we ran into some Marines." said Cabaji quickly.

Alvida nodded eagerly.

"Oh yes, Marines." she said somewhat unconvincingly. "But don't worry, we took care of them. Didn't we Cabaji?"

"Oh yes Alvida." said Cabaji in what would have been serious voice.

They looked at each other and burst out laughing. Cabaji had to clutch the wall for support and Alvida doubled up, tears of laughter streaming down her face.

"Are you guys okay?" asked Buggy, looking more disturbed than worried.

Alvida took a deep breath.

"We're fine." she said, brushing tears of mirth from her eyes. "Great, never better."

"You sure you're okay?" asked Buggy, not looking at all convinced.

Alvida nodded, standing up, as did Cabaji. She folded her arms and Cabaji took his place by Mohji.

"Please continue." said Alvida, adopting a serious expression as Cabaji did likewise.

"I've decided we're going to the Grand Line." he announced.

"What? Go to the Grand Line?" asked Alvida. How could Buggy possibly hope to survive in the Grand Line?

"This is a great opportunity right now." he said nodding at her. "I still have to do something about the rubber-man. We shall go there!"

He paused as Alvida, Cabaji and the rest of the crew stared at him in disbelief.

"I _really_ miss the Grand Line." he said dramatically.

Alvida wasn't exactly sure whether or not to believe Buggy had actually been in the Grand Line before, but Cabaji didn't really have much of a choice as so she would stick with him no matter what.

The crew hurried about, preparing the ship and getting ready to sail. Cabaji helped Alvida ready her ship. After the lookout from Buggy's crew gave the signal to sail, the two ships set off.

The weather terribly cold and stormy. Buggy's ship was leading, so Alvida could only follow him, as she didn't have a map or really any idea of where they were going.

But she wasn't expecting to have to sail up a mountain.

"This is impossible." she said, in quiet terror, staring at the pathway ahead of them up the side of the massive rock jutting out of the ocean. "There is no way we can get through that canal."

Somehow, Buggy's ship was already up and into the canal. Squinting through the rain and the fog Alvida could see nearly the whole crew manning the rudder to keep their course straight. But she didn't have a whole crew behind her to steer the rudder of her ship. How had Buggy possibly expected them to be able to get into the Grand Line with only one other person on the ship?

Cabaji's hand was on her shoulder.

"Don't worry." he said. "You just steer. I'll handle the rest."

She nodded, and gripped the ship's wheel tightly, shaking with both cold and fear.

She was halfway up the up mountainside and passed the canals, when a huge wave splashed over the side of the ship and knocked Alvida from her station at the ship's wheel.

The ship spun out of control and crashed against the mountain rocks. The mast shattered and Alvida was thrown from the ship. Her scream was swallowed by the waves as the current dragged her downward. She plunged deeper and deeper, the awful feeling of total paralysis coming over her. She couldn't move at all, and she knew there would be no Scarlet Albatross to save her this time.

Suddenly, she found herself pulled to the surface, gasping and choking for air. Cabaji had firm hold on her as the waves crashed wildly around them. Amid the chaos, Cabaji managed to pull off his scarf and tie one end around her wrist, and the other around his so they were linked together.

"I won't let you drown!" he shouted above the roar of the water. "If you drown so will I!"

Alvida clung to him, as the water screamed and various pieces of her ships were thrown around them.

A huge wave reared up and bore down on them, and Alvida saw no more.

* * *

Alvida awoke to find herself on the beach of a small island. There was a decent amount of vegetation and it seemed to be late in the evening. Cabaji was lying a few feet away from her, still linked to her by his scarf. She saw to her relief that he was breathing. She loosed her wrist from his scarf and stood up. She blinked back tears as she took in the wreckage of her ship along the shoreline. Her faithful and beautiful ship was now reduced to scattered piles of splintered wood. The figurehead of the Scarlet Albatross lay a few feet away, snapped off at the neck. Miraculously, most of their weapons had survived. She had assumed that her mace would have sunk for sure, but she found it amongst what seemed to be the remains of her cabin.

Cabaji gave a little moan and began to stir. Alvida quickly rushed to him.

"Are you okay?" she asked, kneeling beside him.

"I'm fine." he said a little groggily. "Thanks for not poking me in the ribs like last time."

Alvida smiled.

"So, it looks like we're stuck here." said Cabaji sullenly.

Alvida hung her head.

"I'm sorry." she said, guiltily. "It's my fault we crashed, I couldn't steer well enough."

"Well we're in the Grand Line." said Cabaji. "That's what we wanted. At least it was only your ship."

"I guess so. We are lucky to be alive." said Alvida.

They stared off at the sunset for awhile, neither of them saying anything.

"_Who knows how long we'll be stuck here?"_ Alvida thought. _"Any day could be our last, now that we're stranded in the Grand Line."_

She looked over at Cabaji. He was staring off at the horizon too, looking oddly peaceful. A small smile was playing about his mouth, and his long hair rippled in the gentle breeze.

"Cabaji?" she said quietly.

"Yes, Alvida?"

"We're stuck here, it's my fault and we have no idea what's going to happen to us. We're in the world's most dangerous ocean, we have no water, no shelter and no means of survival. Any day could be or last."

She paused.

"All we have, is each other."

Cabaji stared at her, and Alvida returned his stare

"We should make what we _do_ have last, if only for tonight."

Cabaji nodded his head and smiled.

"Then for tonight." he said, slipping his hand into hers. "That's good enough for me."

The final glows of the sunset faded into rich hues of lavender and then into the deep rippling purples of night.

There was no one to see them, save a majestic-looking scarlet bird with beautiful plumage, perched unseen above in a tree. And as it surveyed the scene before it, it felt that the woman in its charge was now truly protected in the care of another, and it flew away, unaware that the greatest threat to the lives of both Alvida and Cabaji were yet to come, and closer than ever.

* * *

**I know, short chapter, I'm sorry, but the story is indeed going to get a lot better soon. Please don't think I'm rushing into the romance, I'm sorry but I really wanted this scene. So anyway, please R&R! The worst to come is sooner than it may appear…**


	19. Chapter 19

**Hi there! My apologies, but this is a really short chapter. Just some fluffiness and then a cliffhanger, not too much. So enjoy the short and uneventful chapter, and I can promise you the next upcoming chapters will be far more interesting.**

**(On a side note, I would like to notify you that I have made a minimal change to chapter 18. It's nothing too important, just that small piece about how the Scarlet Albatross is there at the end. It's still there, I just changed it a bit because I realized it was inconsistent with my future chapters.)**

* * *

Alvida awoke the next morning, embraced by Cabaji's strong arms with the sand between her toes and in her hair. The sun was radiating warm pools of light down on both of them.

Alvida had never felt more at peace.

"Cabaji." she whispered, stroking his hair. "Cabaji."

His long eyelashes fluttered and he looked up at her.

"What is it Alvida?" he asked still half asleep.

"It's the middle of the day Cabaji." she said.

"Well then, I guess we overslept breakfast." he said with a sleepy laugh.

"I guess we did!" she said, and they rolled around on the sand, laughing and kissing each another.

"So, now what?" said Alvida, reaching for her coat once she had sat up.

"I don't know." said Cabaji shrugging, as he looped his scarf back around his neck. "As you said, we're stuck in the world's most dangerous ocean with no means of survival. Our chances of rescue are fairly low."

"Well it could be worse." said Alvida. "We could be stuck here with Buggy too, and then we'd have to listen to '101 Glorious Conquests by the Infamous Captain Buggy the Clown.'"

"Or the stupid lion." said Cabaji. "That would be worse."

"No, because if Ritchie was here we could eat him." said Alvida enthusiastically. "Dammit, I could eat Ritchie single-handedly right now, I'm so hungry."

Cabaji laughed.

"Remember back at that island when the crew was almost eaten?" he said grinning. "Man, I really pissed off Mohji."

Alvida laughed, and vividly remembered the dance that had followed that night on the beach.

"You know what I really could go for right now?" said Cabaji.

"What? A lion?" said Alvida, nonchalantly.

"No, a piece of toast."

"Toast?"

"Yeah! Don't you love toast?"

"I guess…" said Alvida, bemused.

"Well I love toast." said Cabaji in a matter-of-fact voice. "I always have, and right now, I really want a piece of toast."

Alvida gave him a funny look.

"I can make really good toast too!" he continued enthusiastically. "Have you ever tried my toast? I mean, I not pro or anything, but I can make some good toast."

"Really?" said Alvida, in what could have been a serious voice. Then she burst out laughing, unable to contain herself any longer.

"Of all the things to be talking about!" she laughed.

"Are you insulting my passion for toast?"

"We're stranded in the Grand Line, and you're talking about toast."

"Well I just happen to like toast."

"Oh, Cabaji!"

She threw her arms around his shoulders and they both continued to laugh, long into the afternoon.

* * *

It was early in the evening. They had managed to build a small fire by salvaging some of the wood from the wreckage and broken pieces of glass. The clouds were just beginning their change from gold and orange to pearly lavender. Even though Alvida was cold, hungry and rather disheveled, she had never felt happier. It was a rather magical feeling, to be stranded on an island with your favorite person in the world, especially just as the sun was setting. And Alvida knew Cabaji felt the same way too.

"It's getting dark." murmured Cabaji.

"It _is_ getting dark." said Alvida, smiling at him playfully.

She took off her coat and tossed it lazily on the sand. Cabaji began absentmindedly toying with her bra strap, while gently brushing the nape of her neck with his lips, when Alvida saw something on the horizon.

She squinted against the dim light cast by the fire, trying to discern the odd shape.

It was a pair of ships.

"Cabaji!" she gasped, clasping his hand. "Look!"

Cabaji look up and squinted out at the horizon too.

"Two ships!" cried Alvida happily. "Not just one, two! We're going to be rescued!"

But Cabaji didn't look all that excited, or relieved. On the contrary, he seemed concerned.

"Alvida," he said slowly. "I don't think those are pirates."

Alvida peered closely at the flag and sails flying from the approaching vessels.

"Oh…shit." she muttered.

* * *

**Cabaji and his toast…ah…somewhere along the lines of the research for this story I decided Cabaji's favorite food was toast. **

**Sorry, I know it was really short, but next chapter more things will start to happen. I had originally had this chapter and the next together but it was too much happening so we're stuck with a short chapter. So please review! Enjoy these last fluffy moments between Alvida and Cabaji, because within the next few chapters they will soon be gone. No more fluff, but lot's of drama, and as I said before…even a bit of (dare I say it?!)…angst. (Not too much though!)**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hi! Another short chapter. My apologies. I was surprised that almost everyone who reviewed made some comment on the fact that Cabaji happens to like toast. This is simply my poetic license. I have no physical proof of whether or not Cabaji actually enjoys toast. It just seemed to suit his personality. **

* * *

Cabaji let out a violent stream of expletives.

"Marines!" he groaned. "This is just perfect!"

"There's no way they'll miss us." said Alvida, surveying the two ships on the horizon. "The fire's too bright."

"Dammit!" said Cabaji. "Of all the people we had to turn up to find us, why a bunch of Marines?! And why did they have to come _now_? Couldn't they come back in the morning?"

"Oh, that would pleasant." laughed Alvida, despite the situation. "Excuse me, Mr. Marine Captain Sir? This really isn't a good time. You're rather encroaching on a bit of a, um…_personal_ moment, if you know what I mean. However, if you come back tomorrow morning, do feel free to capture us then. And bring some toast so we can have breakfast, why don't you?"

Cabaji laughed, but he still looked grim.

"Somehow I don't think that's going to fly with them." he said. "What are we going to do?"

"We'll fight, of course." said Alvida, standing up and staring out at the oncoming ships. "If they're just ordinary Marines we can take them out easily."

"And maybe we can take one of the ships out of here." said Cabaji.

Alvida nodded grimly.

They both got up to retrieve their weapons, but there was really nothing they could do but watch the ships get closer and closer. Alvida's hand locked over the handle of her mace, and the other locked with Cabaji's.

After what seemed like ages, the ships finally drew up to the shore. Alvida and Cabaji immediately stood up into a fighting position as several Marines jumped out into the shallows from both ships and quickly and efficiently surrounded them.

"Freeze! And drop your weapons!" one of them yelled, as they all aimed various firearms at Alvida and Cabaji.

"Don't fight yet." Alvida whispered to him. "Let's see if I can charm our way out of this."

"What?" she said innocently, striding purposely towards the one who had addressed her. "You're going to shoot me?"

She had instantly recognized him as the officer who had tried to arrest her back in Loguetown, and judging by the look on his face he had recognized her too.

"You!" he said, sweat beading down his face. "You're that pirate from Loguetown!"

"Oh yes." said Alvida smiling broadly. "Now tell me. Who is the fairest maiden on all the seas?"

"I told you to freeze!" he said, his hand shaking on the gun he was holding. "Put your weapon down or I'll fire!"

"You haven't answered my question." said Alvida, now holding her mace over her shoulder with one hand and drawing her pistol with the other. "Who is the fairest maiden on all the seas?"

He fired, and Alvida never felt it. The bullet slid and then ricocheted off her shoulder and then harmlessly hit a tree.

"So." said Alvida, looking around brightly at everyone gaping at her. "Anyone else want to shoot me?"

Cabaji took that opportunity to kick up a good layer of sand providing then with an excellent cover to actually fight. The Marines proved no match, temporarily blinded by the haze of sand as Cabaji leapt about with his stunning agility as an acrobat, and Alvida simply whacked anything she could see with her mace that wasn't Cabaji.

Once the dust had cleared the Marines were scattered across the beach out cold, and Alvida was trying to dislodge her mace from a tree that she had been bludgeoning on the pretence it was a Marines.

"Let's get out of here." she said, finally freeing her mace from the tree. "If there are more on either of the ships they shouldn't be too much of a problem."

They both eagerly ran up the gangplank, only to be met by a tall Marine Captain with a shock of white hair, smoking two cigars at once.

He surveyed them with a look of distaste and almost amusement.

Alvida froze, staring at him. She could only think of one person he could be.

"You're…" she began.

"Captain Smoker." the Marine cut in. "And what a rather pleasant surprise this is."

* * *

**Next chapter will most definitely be longer, and I may change the genre from Romance/Adventure to Romance/Drama. Please review! **


	21. Chapter 21

**Ah…it feels so good to finally come back to normal length chapters.**

**I want to acknowledge my good friend Koigokoro-love who helped me type most of this chapter over the summer, so I could type other parts of the story.**

**On a characterization note, I tend to struggle quite a bit with writing about Captain Smoker, so no one be upset if he's OCC. **

**Please note the genre has been changed.**

* * *

Alvida stared into Smoker's steely eyes, trying not to shudder. This was the Marine from Loguetown who had devil fruit powers, and a towering reputation for only allowing absolute justice.

With him was a younger-looking girl, wearing a flowered blouse, glasses and a perplexed expression of polite curiosity.

"Well," said Smoker, now glowering at them. "I came to the Grand Line to find Monkey D. Luffy, and instead I end up stuck with Iron Mace Alvida and…"

He paused looking over Cabaji.

"I don't know who you are and I don't particularly care anyway." he said.

"It's Cabaji." Cabaji muttered.

"Don't you work for Buggy's crew?" said Smoker, casting an appraising eye over Cabaji. "What are you doing out here on an island in the Grand Line with this…whore?"

"YOU TAKE THAT BACK!!" screamed Cabaji, lunging at Smoker. Smoker shot out his arms and thick plumes of smoke burst forth, and throwing Cabaji against the ship's railing and holding him there.

Alvida gasped in shock and instinctively raised her mace and swung it at Smoker. His entire body seemed to dissolve as her mace met nothing but a cloud of smoke, before a jet of the white cloud shot at her and pinned her next to Cabaji.

Smoker's body seemed to somehow compress and reform, and Alvida struggled vainly against the plumes engulfing her body. She could now distinctly remember back in Loguetown how they had all strangely been captured by that smoke and fully realized where it had come from.

He motioned to the girl who had simply been standing there throughout the entire proceedings.

"Go get some shackles then take them to the brig Tashigi." he said simply. "And make sure you find seastone ones."

The girl then left.

"Well now." said Smoker's, raising his palms as the smoke around the two of them dissolved. "I wouldn't make anymore attempts to kill me if I were you. I might not be so lenient next time."

Cabaji looked ready to try and lunge at Smoker again, but Alvida gripped his hand.

"He's stronger than both of us." she said quietly. "You can't beat him, you'll only get hurt."

Smoker gave her an almost approving nod.

"Well, at one of you has some sense." he said, picking up Alvida's fallen mace and examining it. "Tell me, Miss Alvida, I thought you had some sort of alliance with Buggy's crew? Did he not pay you well enough for your, services? If you know what I mean."

Alvida quivered with suppressed rage at Smoker's last remark. It was all she could do not to throw herself at him and claw that smug smile off his face.

Cabaji had been deftly relieved of his weapons as Tashigi returned with manacles it looked like she could barely carry. Alvida somewhat passively allowed her to lock her wrists behind her back and shackle her ankles, while Cabaji endured the same treatment with much less tolerance.

"Lock them in the brig." said Smoker indifferently. "I'll question them later."

Tashigi nodded, but then she noticed Cabaji's sword which Smoker had thrown on the deck after disarming Cabaji.

She picked it up and began examining it with wide eyes.

Alvida and Cabaji just looked at her in bemusement.

"Tashigi." said Smoker, in a somewhat agitated voice, clearing his throat.

"Oh! Yes Captain Smoker!" she said suddenly jolting out of her reverie. "The brig! Right! On my way!"

Without another word, Tashigi proceeded to push Alvida and Cabaji down a small flight of stairs, that Alvida could only assume led to the brig of the ship.

"Where did you get this sword?" Tashigi asked as she led them down the small flight of steps and into the brig.

"From my brother." said Cabaji, giving her a strange look. "Why do you care?"

"It's a rather nice sword." she said, sitting them down and looping a long chain around Alvida's and Cabaji's waist so that they were linked back to back.

Once she had them secure she produced a small book and skimmed through it. She paused on one page, and then her face lit up with excitement.

"This is the rare sword Kashue!!" she cried.

Completely forgetting about Alvida and Cabaji, she made to run up the stairs and tripped, but staggered upright holding the sword aloft.

"Captain Smoker! Captain Smoker!!" she cried in utmost delight. "They had a rare sword!! It's the rare sword Kashue!!"

Alvida winced as she heard the girl fall again, but still crying out jovially about the sword she had discovered.

"The nerve of that bastard to call you a whore." growled Cabaji, once she had left. Alvida could feel his body still tensed with rage.

"Forget it." said she. "I don't suppose you can just pull another sword out of your throat."

"Nah, that girl just took my only one." said Cabaji sullenly. "Anyhow, I'm not in a hurry to try that again. My mouth is still healing.

"I don't blame," said Alvida grimly. "And I don't suppose you could cut through metal or seastone."

"What is seastone?" asked Cabaji. "You mentioned it awhile ago."

"Some sort of rock that emits the sea's aura or something like that." said Alvida, trying hard to remember what she had read. "To someone who hasn't eaten devil fruit it's just an ordinary rock, but it will render anyone who has weak, and they can't use their powers as long as they're exposed to it."

Sure enough, Alvida was starting to feel light-headed and dizzy, just as she had back in Loguetown.

"Cabaji," Alvida said, in an attempt to distract herself. "What do you suppose is going to happen to us?"

"We _are_ pirates Alvida." he said. "Smoker said he wanted to question us, but I have no idea what about."

"Maybe he thinks we know were Luffy is?" suggested Alvida. "He mentioned something about looking for him."

"That stupid kid." said Cabaji, "Damn him. Him and Roronoa Zoro. If it weren't for them we wouldn't have ended up here like this."

"Do you really think that's true?" said Alvida, almost chidingly. "I mean, we never would have met if Luffy hadn't messed up our lives in some way or another."

She laughed.

"Think of it that way."

Cabaji shrugged indifferently.

"Why do you want to kill Roronoa Zoro so badly?" Alvida asked in an attempt to get through to him. "Back in Loguetown, what was that about?"

Cabaji sighed.

"A couple months ago, probably longer I was in a duel with Zoro. I thought that if I won I might finally end up first mate, but I lost. And it was no wonder, as it wasn't exactly the most 'honourable' fight I've ever fought. I was willing to try whatever I could just to win. I didn't fight fairly, and Zoro still beat me, even though he was badly injured and I was cheating."

Cabaji hung his head and slumped against Alvida.

"I was so humiliated."

"It's over and done with." said Alvida soothingly. "Just forget about it, and it you can't, then don't try to anymore. If you spend your whole life trying kill Roronoa Zoro, you'll probably end up dead yourself. Trust me, I found out the hard way what revenge can do to a person."

"Are you saying I can't beat him?" asked Cabaji.

Alvida paused, trying to figure out the best way to put it.

"Yes. At least, I don't think so."

Surprisingly, Cabaji actually laughed.

"Ah well." he said. "Let him be the greatest swordsman in the world. But I'm the one who's madly in love with fairest maiden on all the seas."

"And she happily returns that love." said Alvida with a sultry smile.

But their conversation was cut short because they heard the heavy boots of Captain Smoker clomping down the stairs.

"Let's give him hell." said Alvida with a smile.

"Of course." said Cabaji.

"Alright." said Smoker, walking into the brig and surveying them with distaste. "I'm going to ask you both a few questions, and answer truthfully. And If you don't, we have plenty methods to draw the answers out of you."

Alvida swallowed nervously, and she felt Cabaji tense up next to her. Was Smoker implying what she thought he was?

"Do you now were the pirate Monkey D. Luffy is?" he asked. "I understand there was some sort of dispute between the two of you, as well as Buggy the Clown."

"Weren't you there in Loguetown?" said Alvida smiling innocently. "I've been searching for Luffy for a long time. He's my lover, and I teamed up with Buggy so I could find him and go get married. I think we'll elope to Kyuuka Island, perhaps. Won't that be lovely?"

Cabaji burst out laughing.

"Don't make me jealous Alvida." he managed to whisper.

Smoker reached for the long jutte he was carrying on his back and pointed it between Alvida's eyes.

"Don't play games with me." he said coolly. "And you, Cabbage or whatever your name is, shut up."

"His name is Cabaji." said Alvida, glaring at the spear pointed at her face. "And if you think you're going to hurt me with that thing then you don't know much about the Sube-Sube fruit. Point it somewhere else, why don't you? You're pissing me off."

"Oh, I'm well aware you've eaten the Sube-Sube fruit." said Smoker. "It would seem you don't know much about seastone."

This troubled Alvida. It was true, she didn't know much about seastone, but could Smoker really hurt her skin?

Smoker then replaced the jutte and turned to Cabaji.

"Fine then, Cabaji," he said "If you don't know where Luffy is, tell me where your captain is."

"Are you talking about Buggy?" Cabaji asked, adopting an expression of perplexed innocence. "Alvida's my captain, not him. Why else would I be with her?"

It was Alvida's turn to laugh now.

"Shut up when I'm not talking to you!" growled the Smoker, whirling on her and striking her hard across the face.

Alvida gasped in pain as his hand stung her cheek. How had he just managed to hit her? She then felt something warm and sticky leak from between her lips and realized her mouth was bleeding.

"Your skin may be smooth," said Smoker, looking satisfied as Alvida choked on her own blood. "But so long as you're exposed to seastone I can hurt you any way I want."

"YOU BASTARD!" spat Cabaji. "What kind of monster purposely hits a defenceless woman?! Son of a--"

"Shut up!" yelled Smoker, rounding on Cabaji, and striking him across the face as well.

For a moment he looked like he was about to seize Cabaji by the throat, but he then seemed to compose himself and stood up.

"I'm sending you to Marine Headquarters." he said expressionlessly. "I don't need two ships to hunt down Luffy, so I'm sending you on this one."

He bent over and loosed the chain around their middle and hauled them both upright.

"What are you doing?" Alvida managed to ask. She felt like she was about to throw up, between the effects of the seastone and the acrid taste f blood in her mouth, and her cheek still throbbed.

"We still have unfinished business to attend to." he said coolly.

He the half led, half dragged them up the stairs and back on deck, and then turned to face the two of them.

"I could just send you to Marine Headquarters." he said, "But you haven't exactly been that much help to me."

He paused, staring at Cabaji with viscous contempt.

"And nobody calls me a bastard and gets away with it."

He turned to one of the Marines standing nearby.

"I want this one flogged." he said, jerking his thumb at Cabaji. "And make the girl watch."

Several of the Marines grabbed hold of Cabaji. He attempted to fight them off but was greatly overpowered. Alvida was held back by two Marines and was forced to watch as they pulled off his long dark coat and his scarf. After tying him to the mast one of them produced a long and lethal looking whip: cat 'o nine tails. She could only watch in horrified silence as the bosun proceeded with his task. He raised the whip, and brought it down with a sickening crack upon Cabaji's exposed flesh. He screamed in pain Alvida could only imagine, and the bosun continued striking Cabaji until he fell unconscious, but the lashes did not cease, they only fell harder.

Silent tears poured down her face while blood streamed down Cabaji's back. Flesh was torn away, and blood splattered across the deck. The cruelty of the situation was overpowering. Alvida had stopped counting the strikes at thirty. Her vision was swimming before her, and her head throbbed. Overwhelmed, she swayed in the grasp of the Marines holding her, and fainted.

She found herself back in the darkness of the brig, still her hands fettered by the heavy seastone cuffs only now in front of her. Cabaji was lying next to her, his back horribly mangled from countless lashes that were still oozing blood.

Alvida gently lifted Cabaji's body, his blood spilling over her trembling hands. She was too terrified and shocked to cry. She could only stare.

Cabaji's eyelid's fluttered, and his breath came in sharp gasps.

"Stay still." Alvida said in a shaking voice. "You're badly hurt."

He murmured something incoherent, his voice thick with blood.

"It's shameful." he managed to say. "For a swordsman….to have scars on his back."

Alvida could offer no consolation to this statement. The ship was beginning to rock beneath her. She knew they were leaving their island forever and heading to a place Alvida didn't want to contemplate.

"I'm so sorry." she murmured, and pressed her lips to his.


	22. Chapter 22

**This is probably the most important chapter in the whole story. **

**Chapter 14 was of course hugely important because it began the pairing, but in terms of the development of the story and plot, this is without a doubt the most important chapter of the story.**

**Tread cautiously…A third main character is about to make their appearance. **

* * *

Part VI

The weeks passed slowly and Alvida lost track of time. She had no idea how long they could have been sailing. Her approximate guess was a month or longer, but she had no real gauge of day or night. Everything looked and felt the same in the brig: dark and cold. Within the first few weeks of the journey she had been frequently hauled out of the brig and led to a small room, where she was tied to a chair and lights were shone in her face to be interrogated. Despite her insistence she knew nothing of Luffy's whereabouts, the Marines seemed to find this procedure necessary, if not only to try and wear her out, but they gave it up after they finally realized she honestly had no information.

Captain Smoker had taken the second ship, announcing he intended to continue his search for Luffy. The girl, Tashigi, had gone with him as well, keeping Cabaji's sword with her.

The Marines left Cabaji alone for the most part, but without medical attention there was no way the wounds on his back could heal properly. They instead became infected, swollen and misshapen gashes across his back, leaving hideous and welts and scars that frequently split open to ooze and leak blood.

Then finally, after what seemed like it could have been years, the steady rocking of the ship stopped and several Marines came to retrieve them from the brig.

The bright sunlight stung Alvida's eyes, and found herself surveying a large and ornate building, clearly the Navy's Headquarters. But all too soon she found herself thrust back into darkness as a blindfold was tied over her eyes. She assumed it was so if she managed to escape she wouldn't know where she was and get lost. She felt herself of being led down the ship's gangplank by a long chain running from her seastone binding her wrists in front of her. She was aware of Cabaji's presence next to her, which gave her some comfort. Surely the two of them could find some way to escape together.

She could dimly sense being led through doorways and down several long flights of stairs. She felt certain they were inside the building by now. But due to the shackles restricting much movement on part of her feet, Alvida tripped and fell down most of the stairs, only to be dragged roughly to her feet and slapped or hit by the Marine leading her. Alvida did her best to endure it passively, knowing that Cabaji would attempt to fight if he realized that she was being mistreated. She didn't want to get hurt anymore than he already was. However she wasn't sure how much longer she could pretend to be resigned and docile.

"On your feet." the Marine hissed in her ear after one particularly painful flight of stairs.

As she staggered to her feet, the blindfold was taken off her eyes and she found herself in a dimly lit corridor lined with doors, obviously a prison.

"Leave him down here," said one of the officers, jerking his thumb at Cabaji. "But take the woman further down the corridor."

"No!" said Alvida, latching onto Cabaji's arm.

"I won't let you hurt her." he said. "And if any of you tries to I'll kill you."

One of the Marines laughed.

"Neither of you are in much of a position to fight us." he sneered.

Several of the Marines seized Cabaji while the others grabbed hold of Alvida.

"Don't touch me!" screamed Alvida, attempting to throw them off her as Cabaji fought likewise. All thoughts of remaining calm and passive were now lost.

She fought desperately to keep hold of Cabaji's hand, unwilling to let the Marines drag her away from him, but their sheer numbers overpowered her and wrenched her hand free from his grasp.

"Hold her down." said one of the Marines, and Alvida found her face pressed against the floor, though she never ceased her struggle. She could no longer see Cabaji, but she could hear him still fighting.

One of the Marines kicked her in the face and stars burst in front of her eyes.

"I…refuse…to go…without him." she panted, choking against the steady flow of blood from her mouth.

"You don't have much of a choice, pirate." said the one who had kicked her.

At that point Alvida simply gave in to all out rage and fury. It was like back when she had massacred her crew. She no longer knew what she was doing, as she threw the Marines holding her to the floor off her and lunged for the one who had just kicked her. She pressed him to the wall and grabbed him by the throat, in an attempt to throttle him.

"Pull her off, or she'll kill him!" yelled one of the Marines.

Alvida was seized by several Marines and thrown back on the ground. She tried to throw them off again but the seastone was making her weak and dizzy. The short burst of strength fuelled by her anger had passed, and could now only lie on the ground struggling vainly to break free again.

"You filthy bastards!" she screamed, tears of pain spilling from her eyes. She continued to scream curses until she was kicked in the face a second time by the same Marine.

"Shut up." he said coldly. "Or I'll kick you again. Wouldn't want to hurt that pretty face of yours, now would we?"

"Son of a bitch." she snarled, spitting a mouthful of blood at his feet.

"Shut your filthy mouth, pirate." he said scathingly. "And you call yourself a lady."

Alvida found herself reminded forcefully of Ryoshi.

One of them gagged her, and she was dragged to her feet again. Alvida fought now in mute protest and struggle they continued to drag her down the hall. She suddenly felt a sharp prick in her side and one in her neck as well, like that of a needle, and realized in horror that they were drugging her out with sedative. She could do nothing though, as her limbs suddenly became heavy and numb, and she passed out.

Her head throbbed painfully as she found herself on a cold stone floor, her neck and wrists heavily shackled. Her body felt weak and heavy from the drug. The one Marine who she had attempted to strangle in the process of shackling her ankles. He twisted her legs roughly together and wound a long chain around them before linking them to a ring the floor. Her body still ached and felt weak, the aftermath of the sedative still affecting her.

"We're sorry to have to do all this to you." the Marine said, almost casually. "But its standard we take such precautions against one so…_untamed_ as you are."

"And besides," he added. "It's not everyday that I get to have this much fun with a lady."

He gave the chain a tight yank and then proceeded to run his hand along her leg.

"You're skin is so smooth." he murmured, with a lustful smile.

Alvida could only make a strangled noise of disgust and repulsion.

"You're execution is in five days." he said, now stroking her neck, as Alvida attempted to twist her head away. "I look forward to seeing you again. Hopefully you'll have calmed down a bit by then."

He bent over her to untie the gag.

"Scream all you want now." he said. "No one to hear you but yourself."

Alvida simply glared at him in silence.

"Oh, so you're quiet now?" he chided. "Let's hope you stay that way. You know, I almost feel sorry for someone as lovely as you."

He leaned in close to her, and all Alvida could think about was how much he made her think of Ryoshi, and how much she had hated him.

"Almost." he murmured.

The Marines all turned to leave, but Alvida was determined to have the last word, no matter what it was.

"GO TO HELL!" she screamed at them.

They all ignored her except for the one.

"You first, Milady." he said with a smile, and then slammed the door.

But for the next hour, Alvida vented all her anger and rage into the silence of her surroundings. She screamed threats and curses to the Marines, Captain Smoker, even to Ryoshi and the unnamed pirate who had killed Cobyashi. She didn't care if no one could hear her, or what she was even saying.

She fought and strained against the shackles holding her until the seastone sapped her energy and rubbed her wrists raw and blood seeped down her arms.

Eventually, pained, bleeding and exhausted, she fell silent and slumped in her corner of the cell, her body throbbing with pain.

"_I'm not going to die." _was the only thought on her mind. She wasn't going to let Cabaji die either.

But the more she told herself this, the harder it became to fathom how she would survive. The night seemed to drag on forever. Alvida didn't even try to fall asleep. She knew she wouldn't have been able to even if she wanted to.

After what felt like days a small glow of sunlight trickled in. She heard footsteps outside the door and the sound of a key in the lock. She assumed it to be some other officer coming to ask her questions, or some other pointless and painful procedure. The door slowly opened and a tall, male figure entered. Alvida squinted against the dim light, the seastone making her vision somewhat hazy. But as he stepped into the small pool of light leaking in through the small window, his features were thrown into full relief.

Alvida gasped aloud. She couldn't believe it. That who of all the people would be standing there in the doorway…

_It was Coby._


	23. Chapter 23

**Plot twist or what? Coby?! Well now…let's see how this goes for poor Alvida. To verify our time period, this is well after Coby and Helmeppo were sent to Marine Headquarters by Admiral Garp, but way before Enies Lobby. Coby is maturing and looks much different, but not quite like he does in Enies Lobby yet...but close enough.**

**On a side note, I cannot promise I will be able to update by next Saturday, as I may be away. If there is no update on Saturday, I will update on Sunday.**

* * *

Alvida couldn't believe it. She gaped at him, absolutely stunned. He was just standing there, looking casually back at her with a slightly perplexed expression. He was a lot taller, and definitely looker stronger too. His features had matured greatly, to the point of almost barely being recognizable. His hair was blonde again, only it was in a different style, sort of flipped out around the edges. And he still wore those glasses, only casually pushed up on his forehead.

There could be no denying it. He was Coby.

Alvida felt that rush of anger and resentment return so quickly. The boy who held Cobyashi's name. A name that he didn't deserve, and a name she would never forget.

But what would he do? What would he think to see her like this? The pirate she was, weakened imprisoned, condemned, everything he had always hoped would happen to her. She was completely helpless.

"Don't worry Miss," said Coby gently, and walking in "I'm not going to hurt you." he said, evidently misinterpreting Alvida's look of shock as one of fear.

"_He doesn't recognize me." _Alvida thought, astonished.

"_Miss?"_

And Alvida felt in way she couldn't explain, her feelings of hatred and loathing somehow fade away, to be replace by a strange feeling of comfort.

Coby stood there, watching her a moment, as Alvida tried to comprehend everything that was happening.

He bent down before her and produced a small ring of keys.

"One moment Miss." he said, fitting one of the keys to the locks of her shackles binding her wrists. "I'm supposed to free you so that you can eat."

"Thank you." Alvida murmured as she gently massaged the life back into her bleeding wrists, grateful to be free of the seastone.

"What's your name?" she asked, though she knew all to well.

"Coby." he responded smiling. "Just Coby Miss, at your service."

Alvida nodded, her suspicions now completely confirmed.

"Thank you…Coby." she slowly. It felt odd to say his name.

Coby handed her a small dish of rice and sat down on the floor.

"I'm to wait until you're finished, but don't hurry on account of me." he said.

A very uncomfortable silence followed. Alvida picked at the rice, which tasted shit though. She was aware of Coby watching her intently. She couldn't believe the irony of the situation. What would Coby somehow found out who she was? Had he not been informed of her identity? Did he still hold a grudge against her?

Coby broke the silence, interrupting her thoughts.

"Miss, are you really a pirate?" he said tentatively.

Alvida looked up at him, a little perturbed at the question.

"_Wasn't it obvious?"_

"Do you think I'd be here if I wasn't?" she asked.

Coby shrugged.

"You just don't seem like a pirate." he said. "You're so…"

His voice trailed off as he seemingly pondered the right words. But Alvida could tell exactly what was on his mind.

"Appearances can be deceiving." she said, saving him the trouble of finishing the sentence.

Coby blushed.

Alvida decided it was her turn to ask a question.

"How long have you been working here?" she asked, curious.

"Not long." said Coby. "Maybe half a year or so."

"_It seems like so much longer."_ thought Alvida, staring at the strong young teenage boy before her, disbelieving that he could have ever been her scrawny cabin boy.

"But I've only been at the headquarters a few months now." he continued. I started out being a chore boy for awhile."

Alvida tried hard not to laugh.

"But then my friend and I got sent here for training by Admiral Garp."

"I see." said Alvida, wondering why the Admiral had such a strange name.

"Someday," said Coby, still going on. "I hope I can become an admiral! That's my dream, Miss."

There was a fierce light and a faraway look in his eyes, like the one Alvida had glimpsed when he had announced his desire to capture her.

"And if I continue with my training I could be promoted to be a Petty Officer soon." he added, eagerly.

He was so much more outgoing, and free-spirited than before.

"I hope that goes well for you." said Alvida picking at the last grains of rice. She reluctantly handed the empty bowl back to Coby.

Coby withdrew his keys again. Alvida shrank away slightly, holding her wrists.

"Do you have to?" she murmured.

"I'm sorry Miss." said Coby. "I do."

Alvida hesitated and then passively held her wrists out to Coby.

Coby gently fitted her hands back into the manacles and Alvida winced in pain as the raw skin on her wrists met the seastone.

"I am sorry Miss." said Coby. "I don't know why they're doing this to you."

Alvida shrugged indifferently.

Then she remembered something.

"Coby," she said quickly. "Have you seen a pirate by the name of Cabaji? We were captured together."

Coby paused a moment.

"Does he have long black hair and a scarf?" he asked

Alvida nodded.

"He's down the hallway." Coby said. "I was just there. He sure wasn't very friendly.

"Thank goodness." Alvida murmured.

Coby turned to leave, but then stopped.

"You never told me your name." said Coby. "I told you mine, but what's yours?"

"That's not important." said Alvida quickly.

"Of course it is." said Coby. "What's wrong with telling me your name?"

"Plenty." said Alvida. "Calling me 'Miss' is just fine for now."

"Alright then Miss," said Coby sounding discouraged. "But I'll find out somehow."

He turned to leave, when an idea crossed Alvida's mind. A dangerous one, but a brilliant one none the less.

"You know Coby," she said quietly. "You would look really good with pink hair."

Coby froze in the doorway.

"I had pink hair once." he said slowly.

"Really?" said Alvida. "Why'd you dye it blonde?"

"It was blonde to begin with." said Coby. "But this woman made me dye it pink."

"Really?" said Alvida again. "Who?"

"She was a pirate." said Coby, his voice a forced calm.

"And she made you dye your hair?" said Alvida. "Why?"

Coby turned to face Alvida. His face was a mixture of confusion and surprise, while Alvida's was a mask of innocence and polite curiosity.

Coby stared at her a couple more moments, and then wordlessly turned and walked out of the cell, locking the door behind him.

Alvida managed the smallest of smiles.

So her last days would be with Coby.

Things could turn out to be interesting.

* * *

**The chapter was sort of weak, and rather uneventful, but you're left with that nagging feeling of what might happen if Coby found out who Alvida is, and the fact that Alvida's life is even more jeopardy now. Coby obviously holds a grudge, but that's for next chapter!**


	24. Chapter 24

**Hi, sorry for the day late update. Next week will resume normal schedule as far as I know. These first couple chapters where Coby makes his reappearance may be really slow, but trust me, they get so much better, so bear with it. **

**If anyone wonders what "donburi" is, I'm pretty sure it's a type of soup/porridge like thing. It's in a bowl, and it's supposed to be warm. Something like that. Yeah…I did my best. **

* * *

Coby returned that evening with a bowl of what looked like it might have been donburi two weeks ago. He seemed to have decided to ignore Alvida's comment about his hair from the night before, so Alvida pressed him with questions.

"So I thought Marines avoided making association with pirates." said Alvida. "How'd you end with some lady pirate making you dye your hair?"

"I wasn't always in the Navy." said Coby. "I had just wanted to go fishing one day but I ended up on the wrong ship. The captain was a pirate named Alvida, but we all had to call her 'Lady Alvida.' Whether or not that was actually her title I don't know, but I highly doubt it. I think she just made it up."

This made Alvida slightly annoyed, but she resisted the urge to comment. Coby was right after all, she had simply dubbed herself "Lady" when she was about ten.

"So anyway," Coby continued, "She 'initiated' me into her crew by making me dye my hair. I think she just wanted to humiliate me. I worked as her cabin boy for two years until another pirate helped me escape."

"So this, _Lady _Alvida, made you dye your hair pink?" said Alvida, playing along as if she had never been aware of Coby's story, and laying a delicate stress on 'Lady.' "I would have loved to have seen it. She must have had a great sense of style."

"Well I only dyed it back recently." said Coby, running his fingers through his hair. "It took me forever to bleach all the pink out. They dunked my head in a wine barrel and held it there about eight times before they were satisfied it was pink. As I said, I think all she wanted was to humiliate me."

"I see." said Alvida, not finding the story that amusing now that is was from Coby's point of view. She was starting to feel guilty.

"So what Lady Alvida like?"

"She was a bitch." said Coby, sounding bitter for the first time, but then his eyes widened and quickly covered his mouth, obviously embarrassed.

"Sorry, Miss." he stammered. "That's no way to speak in front of a lady."

Alvida laughed. Despite Coby's comment about her, (which was perfectly true) Alvida couldn't help but be somewhat amused.

"It's alright Coby." said Alvida, still laughing a bit. "I know a few words that would make any sailor blush. Just because I'm a lady, doesn't change the fact I'm a pirate. "

Coby gave her a funny look.

"Alvida called herself 'The Lady Pirate'" said Coby looking strangely at Alvida.

"Really?" said Alvida quickly, immediately regretting what she had said. "What a coincidence."

"Well," Coby continued, still eyeing Alvida with uncertainty. "She was always pushing me and the rest of the crew around. I don't even know how she managed to get a crew in the first place. She carried this huge iron mace, with silver tips and she'd kill anyone who upset her. Everything on the ship had to be just as lovely and beautiful as she was, she would say. But she seemed to hate me more than everyone else, but for some reason she wouldn't kill me. She might have that one time if Luffy hadn't saved me though."

"So I take it she was quite pretty then." said Alvida, dreading the answer she knew she'd get.

"Are you kidding?" said Coby, sounding even bitterer. "She was so ugly. She really looked like the, um…witch she was. But for some reason she seemed to think she was beautiful. So everyday she would ask us the same question, over and over. She'd say, 'Who is the fairest maiden on all the seas?' And then we had to answer, 'You are Lady Alvida,' or she'd whack us with the mace, but she was _hardly_ a beauty."

These memories pained Alvida, as she remembered what she had been like, but she found herself feeling more for Coby instead. Hearing it from his perspective now she hadn't realized just how cruel she had been to him. She felt a sudden urge to confess, apologize for everything, but couldn't bring herself to.

"So what about the pirate who helped you escape?" asked Alvida, trying to swallow her guilt. "Was he from her crew?"

Coby shook his head.

"His name was Monkey D. Luffy. You might have heard of him. He's become fairly well known lately. He just washed up on the shore one day in a barrel. Then he beat up Alvida so I could escape."

Alvida tried not to wince as the memory of Luffy hitting her in the jaw came back to her.

"I just wish," Coby continued, a wistful look in his eyes. "That I'd the courage to escape on my own. I let her kick me around for two whole years before Luffy rescued me. I had always dreamed about becoming a Marine so I could catch criminals like Alvida. I wish I could pay her back, for wasting part of my life. I want to find her so badly, but I have no idea where she could be. But if I could, if I somehow knew where she was…"

His voice trailed off, as Alvida listened, stunned.

"I'd want to kill her."

Alvida was shocked, that Coby had been harboring these thoughts all this time. Coby wanted her dead, she was the one person in the world he hated. She knew she deserved this hatred, but it scared her. If Coby somehow found out who she was, she was at his mercy. She had no way of defending herself, no way to run or hide. And Smoker had shown her that as long as she was exposed to seastone, Coby could hurt her anyway he wanted. But Coby would be getting his wish all too soon.

"I-I'm sure she'll be brought to justice Coby." Alvida managed to say, now looking at Coby in a completely different light. She never thought she'd fear him.

"How can you be so sure?" asked Coby.

"I just do." said Alvida. "I'm sure, that sometime very soon, she'll pay for all her crimes and everything else that she did to you."

Alvida tried not to shudder, speaking of her own death.

"You know Miss," said Coby, as he took the now empty bowl of donburi and gently took Alvida's wrists to chain her back to the wall.

"I've holding so much anger inside of me since I left Alvida. I hate that I feel so upset at times, but it seems like it controls me. But talking to you made me feel better, better than I've felt for awhile actually."

"I suppose that's good." said Alvida, though she couldn't say the conversation had the same effect on her however, but she knew all too well what it was like to lust after revenge.

"Will you tell me your name now Miss?" Coby asked hopefully.

"_Are you kidding?"_ thought Alvida. _"After you just announced you want to kill me?"_

She shook her head.

"You'll find out eventually anyway." she said as casually as she could.

"What do you mean?" asked Coby.

"Well four days from now I'm going to be executed." said Alvida, trying to nonchalant.

"What?!" gasped Coby. "You mean they're going to kill you?!"

"Isn't that what executed means?" said Alvida, trying to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

"But they can't kill you!" cried Coby, his eyes wide.

"Why not?" asked Alvida, not finding the subject of her death that appealing. "I'm pirate, aren't I?"

"Are they going to kill you friend Cabbage too?" asked Coby, clearly distraught.

"_Cabaji_." said Alvida, now annoyed that Coby couldn't even managed to say his name right. "Yeah, both of us together."

"They can't kill you!" Coby said again. "I've only just met you! This can't happen!"

Alvida wasn't quite sure what Coby meant by this last statement.

Coby was staring at Alvida now with something of a fierce determination.

"Miss." said Coby, his hands clenched tightly in fists. "I'm going to do everything I can to make you happy here, on your last days. I'm no one special, but I will do all that I can. I promise, Miss."

"Coby please-," Alvida began.

"It's alright." said Coby, cutting her off. "I promise."

As he left Alvida was struck by a sinking feeling of guilt.

"_Oh Coby, if only you knew…"_

* * *

**Yeah, hope you weren't too bored. As I said, these chapters are somewhat slow at first, but they will get better.**

**And by the way, my birthday is this week! Yay! Cake!! What I would really love for my birthday is a cosplayer's outfit, but I don't think that's going to happen. Besides, no one makes outfits for characters like Alvida. (cries) **

**But wouldn't you just love to wake up on your birthday, and check your email to find a whole ton of reviews waiting for you? How magical! (In other words, review!)**


	25. Chapter 25

**Hi, not much to say. Nothing resembling a cosplayer's outfit for my birthday, (perhaps I shall have to resort to making one...) but thanks to everyone who wished me happy birthday!**

* * *

Coby returned the next morning with some sort of oddly misshapen chunks of rice.

"They're rice balls, Miss!" said Coby happily. "I made them myself!"

"Oh, um…thank you." said Alvida, who had not had the slightest idea they could have possibly been rice balls. She hoped they tasted much better than they looked, which they surprisingly did.

"Do they taste alright?" Coby asked anxiously, watching Alvida eat. "I haven't made rice balls for awhile."

"No they're fine," said Alvida, though they were more like rice shapes than actual rice balls. "They're the best thing I tasted in awhile."

Coby beamed as if she had just awarded him the rank of admiral.

"So I've talked about myself a lot, Miss." said Coby after a bit. "Why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?"

Alvida had been afraid of this.

"I'm a pirate." she said, taking another rice ball. "And now I'm stuck in here for it. What else is there to tell?"

"Well," said Coby. "What kind of devil fruit have you eaten?"

"What makes you think I've eaten devil fruit?" asked Alvida, trying to avoid the topic.

Coby pointed to the shackles hanging above her head.

"Those are seastone Miss." he said matter-of-factly. "They don't use cells like this for ordinary pirates."

"Well, aren't you quite observant." said Alvida, trying not to sound annoyed.

"Well what kind of devil fruit?" asked Coby, obviously very curious.

"The Sube-Sube fruit." said Alvida, concentrating hard on the rice ball she was eating and determined to give Coby as little information as possible.

"Well what does it _do_?" asked Coby.

"It makes your skin all slippery so nothing can hurt you." said Alvida in a toneless voice.

"_No need to tell him about restoring beauty." _she thought.

"Nothing hurts you at all?" said Coby, his eyes wide with awe.

"Well not my skin at least." said Alvida, now giving in to Coby. "Once a fountain crashed into me and I didn't even feel it. Obviously seastone hurts me, but other than that nothing breaks my skin, unless I'm exposed to seastone. Then you could hurt me with an ordinary weapon."

"Here," she said, rolling back the sleeves of her now fairly worn purple coat and extending her forearm to Coby. "My wrists are like that because of the seastone." she said indicating the raw skin on her wrists where the seastone from the chains had bit into her flesh. "But go ahead and feel what its like."

Coby tentatively approached and ran his finger along her forearm. He jumped back in surprise.

"It's smooth!" he said, looking surprised.

Alvida nodded. She wasn't sure why she was letting Coby do this, but it seemed to be making him happy.

"My feet are smooth like that too." said Alvida. "I can slide across any surface in my bare feet."

"Really?" said Coby, sounding fascinated. "Can you show me?"

"Are you allowed to let me do that?" asked Alvida, glancing down at her shackled ankles.

"I don't really care." said Coby, producing his keys. "It's not like anyone will ever know."

"Yeah, but I don't want you to get in trouble if anyone did." said Alvida. "I'm in enough trouble with the Navy as it is."

"Besides," she added with a sultry wink. "I _am_ a dangerous pirate."

"Don't worry about it Miss." laughed Coby as he bent over her feet. "Just promise you won't hurt me and run off."

"I promise." said Alvida, appreciating Coby's sense of humor.

But come to think of it, Alvida thought as she stood up and stretched her legs, Coby was right. She could very easily overpower him, take his keys, free Cabaji and run off. And this was Coby, her cabin boy whom she had loathed and despised for years. In the past she might have done so without any second thoughts. She looked at Coby, who had changed so much, and was staring back at her, completely trusting. To take advantage of his kindness, a kindness she didn't even deserve at that would have been wrong.

And so, she dismissed any thoughts of escape from her mind, and stretched her limbs, enjoying the feeling of freedom.

She then noticed Coby staring at her with wide eyes.

"Stop staring at me Coby," said Alvida giggling a bit. "You're making me blush."

"Sorry Miss." said Coby, looking away and blushing himself.

Alvida, looked around the tiny cell. "Well there's not much space in here." she said, surveying the enclosed space. "But I'll do my best."

She kicked off her sandals, her heart pounding, recalling the excitement she had felt back at Loguetown. Her bare feet touching the floor, but nothing happened. Her feet wouldn't let her glide. She remained motionless.

"I can't." she murmured finally, trying to keep her voice from breaking. "I can't do it."

"Why?" said Coby, with perturbed innocence. "What's wrong, Miss?"

Alvida tensed with disappointment and rage.

"Because this cell is made of seastone, you idiot child!!"she yelled.

Coby stepped away from her. His expression was one of hurt, and almost apologetic, but Alvida could see his stance poised as well. His training as a Marine had evidently paid off, and Alvida could see he was prepared to subdue her should she attempt anything.

The thought of it made her sick and furious. Coby thought he had the nerve to fight back at her? She could feel part of her wanting to give him that satisfaction, to show him she was still had control over him. She now wanted more than ever to somehow take control over him, steal his keys and free Cabaji, and escape.

Cabaji…god she missed him so much. What would it take? To easily overpower Coby, and show him _she_ was still dominant.

No… she wasn't the dominant one anymore, was she? _She_ was prisoner this time, not Coby. _Coby_ was the one in the position of power, he held the keys, not her. And how was he using his unknown power? Was he being the tyrant she had been? Was he abusing and mistreating her, as she had done so easily to him? Simply, because of his name?

Oh god, Cobyashi. How much Coby made her think of him.

But Coby did not abuse the power he didn't realize he had over her. And not to mention, he wanted her dead.

"Miss?" said Coby tentatively. Alvida saw he was still tensed, ready to defend himself and strike back, should she make the first move. And in that moment, Alvida wanted to so badly.

"I'm sorry." said Alvida, sitting down on the cold floor and sullenly thrusting the unfinished plate of rice balls at Coby. She had no appetite anymore. She felt wretched and ashamed, that she still harbored feelings of hate towards Coby, and that she was keeping who she was from him.

"Miss, are you alright?" asked Coby looking distressed.

"I'm fine." said Alvida firmly. She obediently thrust out her wrists and looked away. She would not let Coby see her cry.

"Really Miss, what is it?" asked Coby, clearly concerned.

"Just leave me alone!" Alvida burst out, unable to contain herself or her sadness. "Just chain me back and go away! Let me be alone!"

She had let Coby see her tears. He said nothing. He simply stared at her with a mixture of hurt and pity.

He did as she asked silently. The seastone did nothing to ease her spirits as Coby gently took her hands. She was defenseless to him, as long as she was here. Coby was truly in control of her.

He turned to leave.

"Wait." said Alvida, and Coby paused in the doorway.

"I'm sorry." Alvida managed to say. "I have absolutely no reason to be upset with you. You don't deserve hatred from me."

"_I've already given you enough hatred. If anything, you deserve to hate me."_

Coby nodded, and proceeded out the door.

Guilt, was not a feeling Alvida was much accustomed to.


	26. Chapter 26

**Not much to say, enjoy the chapter! Things start turning a little strange…but then again, _everything_ I write is strange. **

* * *

Coby returned as usual in the evening again with rice balls and an ornately decorated teapot.

"I brought you tea Miss!" he announced happily, beaming. "I thought you needed cheering up!"

Alvida hated tea.

_Really _hated tea.

"Oh, how um…_thoughtful_, Coby." Alvida said, with what she hoped was a convincing smile, hoping she could managed to force herself to drink the tea if only to make Coby happy. "It was nice of you to want to cheer me up."

"Of course Miss," said Coby, pouring the tea after he freed her. He dumped in what looked like half the sugar bowl and half the cream jar and eagerly handed it to Alvida.

"Sorry there's no milk." said Coby, apologetically. "The milk here isn't that great, so I put in extra cream to make up for it."

"Oh, um…that's fine." said Alvida, accepting the teacup and staring down at the good inch or so of sugar sitting in the bottom of the cup that didn't look like it was going to dissolve anytime soon. She tried not to wince as she took a sip of the scalding hot and overly-sugared tea. She quickly ate a rice ball to get the wretched taste out of her mouth.

"Is the tea okay?" Coby asked. "I think I might have put too much sugar in."

"Oh no, it tastes absolutely wonderful." Alvida lied, forcing a smile as made herself drink more tea.

"Coby, have you seen Cabaji at all lately?" she asked anxiously, as she had been thinking about him all night. "Is he alright?"

"Yeah," said Coby shrugging. "He's always moody though. I don't really talk to him that much. He's mean to me."

"How so?" asked Alvida.

"Well, you obviously know him, and so I asked him about you." said Coby, somewhat reluctantly.

"You were trying to find out my name, weren't you?" she said, tentatively. How much might have Cabaji told Coby? He had no idea of the grudge Coby held against her, or how she had abused him.

"Yes, Miss." said Coby, looking away. "But he didn't tell me. He told me he wasn't going to tell me anything about you because he didn't trust me, and if I was doing anything to mistreat you he'd kill me. He scares me. I don't like him."

"That's enough." said Alvida, silencing anymore comments Coby might have been about to say about Cabaji. She was trying to keep herself from feeling angry at Coby for trying to find out who she was behind her back, and wasn't in the mood to hear him say bad things about Cabaji. But still, at least Cabaji had been wise not to trust Coby. But still, he had no idea that Coby had been her cabin boy for two years.

"Maybe could you bring him some of these rice balls?" asked Alvida, finishing the one she had been eating and handing Coby the rest of the plate. "Just, please don't tell him they're from me."

Coby nodded.

"I'll be sure to bring them." he said, taking the plate from her.

"Thanks Coby." said Alvida, smiling one of her sweetest smiles, and she really meant it. "And thank you for making me tea."

"Of course, Miss." said Coby, brightening up again. "Do you want me to make you tea tomorrow?"

"Umm…that's alright." said Alvida quickly. "I don't want you to go to all that trouble again."

"Is there something else you want?" asked Coby.

Alvida was sorely tempted to ask Coby for wine, but she thought that would have been a bit demanding on her part, considering she was a prisoner.

"Are you sure?" asked Coby, gently taking her wrists in his daily routine to fix them back to the wall.

"Coby, you're doing so much for me." said Alvida, sincerely. "So much you probably _shouldn't_ be. Please, don't worry about me."

"Alright." said Coby, quietly.

He paused a moment.

"Miss, can you please tell me your name?" he asked, imploringly.

This was getting old, and Alvida was running out of excuses.

"Oh come now, Coby." she said pressing a finger to his lips with her still free hand, trying to play for the dramatic. "It's more _romantic_ if you _don't_ know."

Alvida instantly regretted saying this.

"R-Romantic?" breathed Coby, turning bright scarlet.

"_Oh god, no. What have I done?" _thought Alvida.

Coby quickly fixed her other hand back up and bolted from the cell, though Alvida could was almost certain that she had heard Coby singing. She shook her head, not sure whether to be worried or to be amused. Or guilty, for that matter.

Definitely, she felt guilty.

"_Oh, Coby."_

* * *

That night Alvida fitfully drifted in and out of sleep. It was hard enough to sleep being chained to the wall as it was, but she found herself plagued by dreams of Coby, when he was back on her ship. How she'd delighted in tormenting and abusing him, and so much more. But she knew there would be no way she could bring herself to tell Coby. But she couldn't rid herself of those feelings of guilt every time Coby came. She felt as if she was taking advantage of him, and his kindness.

What if she did tell Coby who she was? The thought was devastating to her and she knew it would be to Coby even more. And he still sought revenge on her. She wasn't sure if he would actually try to kill her, before the day of her execution, but she knew that Coby's grudge ran too deep and that he couldn't just forgive her. The scars she had given him might never completely heal.

She wrestled with her thoughts as the first glows of morning drifted through the barred window above her. She hadn't slept all night. But then again, she hadn't slept at all since the day she had been unceremoniously dragged in and separated from Cabaji. She just stared at the walls, thinking about Cabaji, thinking about Coby, and thinking about the fact she was going to die soon.

Coby would be by within the next hour or so, and she knew didn't deserve everything he had been trying to do for her. Alvida felt like she was manipulating and playing with him, just the way she always had back when he had been her cabin boy. It was a terrible feeling of remorse, guilt and anxiety, mixed with fear. How many days were left now? Was it two days now, three, if she counted today? Was that _all_ the time she had left? Was she to spend those last days deceiving Coby? Was it better for him not to know? She could find no answers.

Coby arrived within the hour, as Alvida had expected. But when Coby opened the door to his cell as her always did, Alvida could only stare in shock.

Coby's hair was…pink.

Bright pink.

"Coby, what-?" Alvida began, stunned.

"Do you like it?" asked Coby, blushing and quickly setting down the rice balls as usual and then setting to work freeing her wrists.

"You said you wanted to see me with pink hair, so I dyed it. Just so you could see it. Your friend Cabbage or whatever his name is told me I looked like a girl, but I don't care." He grinned happily back at Alvida.

"Yeah, well that's Cabaji for you." said Alvida, far too shocked by Coby's hair to bother correcting Coby. Coby had now taken it too far. This was too much for her, and for him.

"Coby, we need to talk." said Alvida gently, but firmly.

"About what, Miss?" asked Coby, sitting down across from her, clearly not expecting anything serious.

Alvida tried to think how to put the situation. She had spent the night grappling with her emotions, trying to think of what she was supposed to say Coby.

"Coby, all this needs to stop." she began.

"What does?" asked Coby, now looking slightly worried. "What do you mean? I don't understand."

"Coby, I don't deserve everything you've been doing for me." she said, thrusting the plate of rice balls back at Coby. "Coby, you're a Marine. You worked hard to become one. You told me it was your dream. You're supposed to hate people like me. I'm a pirate. I have to die for my crimes. You can't change that any more than I can. And I can't tell you how much I have appreciated your company, but you shouldn't be doing this all that you have for me. If you knew who I was, and what I had done-"

"Then why don't you tell me?!" Coby burst out suddenly. "Why don't you tell me your name? Why is it so secret? Are you afraid that I'll hate you for some reason?!"

That was exactly the reason, and Alvida could only look at him silence. Half of her was fighting the urge to tell Coby, and the other half fighting against it. She looked away. She couldn't tell him.

"I know you're a pirate!" Coby continued, standing up to face her, his face a mixture of hurt and anger. "I know you have to die, and I don't want you to! Just because I work as a Marine it doesn't mean I agree with everything we do! All I wanted to do was make you happy! But _you_ can't even tell me your name!"

Alvida still could only look away in silence. Coby had every right to this anger. Coby only stared at her, as if waiting for an answer.

"Fine." said Coby. "If that's how you want to be."

He suddenly seized her wrists in a vice-like grip. Alvida fought to twist her hands away but couldn't. With surprising force and strength he forced them back into the seastone. Alvida held back a gasp of pain as Coby locked them painfully tight, cutting off the circulation from her wrists and stinging the raw skin.

"Goodbye, _Miss._" said Coby bitterly, slamming the door behind him. But in the silence that followed, Alvida could have sworn she heard Coby sobbing.


	27. Chapter 27

**This chapter is a little bit on the shorter side, but next week's chapter will be significantly longer than my average chapter length. Have fun!**

**Note: Does anyone remember way back at the beginning, the very beginning to the prologue? The prologue is very important, and you'll come across it again in this chapter. I know it might not make a ton of sense, but keep your eyes open for the connection between the prologue and this chapter.**

* * *

Coby did not return that evening. Alvida didn't expect him to. No one else came either. As the evening came and went she found herself missing Coby now as much as Cabaji. At least back in the brig she had Cabaji with her, but that terrible feeling of loneliness was now threatening to take control of her. Coby and Cabaji. Cabaji and Coby. They tossed back and forth in her mind. The night dragged on, even more torturous than the last. It was all she could do to keep from crying herself to sleep, out of guilt for Coby and loneliness for Cabaji. And out of fear for her life. The execution date was so soon, and she didn't want to die. For hours she desperately strained against the shackles binding her to the wall, until the seastone robbed her of her frail energy and her arms were caked in fresh blood.

The silence of the night left her alone and afraid with nothing to do but reminisce on her life. Everything had started all those years ago, when she and Cobyashi had been playing on the beach, which had become the beach where she and Cabaji had met as well. But her choice to avenge Cobyashi had marred and tainted her life, and had now led her here. She was the only one to blame for being here. She had brought this upon herself, but Cabaji was at no fault and should not have to bear the consequences of her decisions. And now Coby hated her more than ever. Well he'd get his wish, wouldn't he? Lady Alvida would be dead by the day after tomorrow. He would find out who she was on that day, and not regret to see her die in the slightest.

The night seemed to last forever. Eventually she managed to fall into a fitful sleep of nightmares.

And then Alvida found that her final day came and went all too soon.

Some other Marine came to her cell in the morning and glared coldly at her while she ravenously ate the stale rice and glared just as coldly back. Usually the time between Coby's visits in the morning and evening were painfully long, but today the hours seemed to pass all too quickly and Alvida found herself facing the night again all too soon and she again had nothing more to do than brood.

Alvida stared out the barred window of her cell. A faint glimmer of moonlight trickled in. It was dark, and it was cold, but tonight seemed so much more so. But everything would be over tomorrow. By this time tomorrow, she would be dead. And so would Cabaji. What she wouldn't give to see him right now.

And then there was the Coby. She wished he could somehow reconcile with him before her execution. Maybe even tell him her name. Then it wouldn't hurt so much when he learned the truth tomorrow. It didn't matter. Either way, he would still hate her, and she would still die.

She had wrestled with her thoughts so many nights before there almost wasn't anything left to think about. Just Cabaji and Coby.

She fought against the tears burning beneath her eyelids, but it was no use. One fell down her cheek, and then another.

"But I don't want to die." She murmured aloud to the silence of her cell. It gave her nothing but silence back.

She sighed. There was nothing she could do to stop tomorrow.

Suddenly, she heard the scrape of a key in the lock.

She hoped it was Coby.

And to her astonishment, it was.

"What are you doing here Coby?" she asked in utter disbelief.

Coby walked in and quickly shut the door behind him.

"Miss, I'm sorry." he said. "About what I said to you the other day, I didn't mean it."

"Coby you have absolutely nothing to be sorry for." said Alvida. "You have every right and reason to be angry at me. But why are you here? It's the middle of the night."

Coby took a deep breath.

"Miss," he said softly. "I'm not going to watch you die."

"What do you mean?" asked Alvida, puzzled.

"You're going to escape tomorrow." said Coby, now setting to work freeing her of her various restraints. "Cabaji too. Both of you. It will be risky, but you can pull it off."

"Coby, _no._" said Alvida firmly. "What if you get caught? It's not worth it after you worked so hard to become a Marine."

"_You joined became a Marine to free yourself from me and to capture me, Coby."_ thought Alvida. _"Don't get thrown out because of me too."_

"I don't care." said Coby. "I can't watch you die. I'd rather be thrown out

knowing you were alive and safe, than an admiral who had to stand there and watch you die."

Alvida was stunned, that in these few days Coby had come to care about her this much.

Summoning her courage, Alvida said, "Coby, before you do anything, I need to tell you my name. You need to know who I am."

"That's not important anymore Miss." said Coby shaking his head. "I'll find out anyway tomorrow. It's not like they'll try to execute you without announcing your name."

"Coby, really." said Alvida, reaching out and placing her hands on Coby's shoulders. "You should now. I don't want you to do anything you might regret."

"It's alright, Miss." said Coby, taking her hands and squeezing them. "And I promise I won't regret this."

He paused a moment smiling.

"Would you like to go and see Cabaji, Miss?" he asked.

"You mean, I can see him?" she asked, almost disbelieving as her heart raced.

Coby nodded.

"Come on Miss." he said brightly standing up. "He's waiting for you."

Coby opened the door and poked his head out. He looked to either side and then motioned for Alvida to follow. They walked down the dark hallway lined with other cells. Alvida wondered as to who their occupants could be. Pirates like her, awaiting various unpleasant fates, or just ordinary criminals, serving out their time? She could still feel a faint aura of seastone, and remembered painfully how she had been dragged down this hallway just days ago. Coby stopped at one of he doors and inserted a key into the lock and stepped inside, motioning for Alvida to follow.

Cabaji was sitting on a small bench, looking alert and awake. He hands and feet were only loosely shackled and not to anything giving him the freedom to walk around.

"You got a bench?" said Alvida, grinning in mock indignation. "All I got was the floor."

He stood up and threw his arms around her, a bit awkwardly, due to the metal fettering his wrists.

"I missed you so much." he said, squeezing her.

"Me too." she murmured, trying not to cry in front of Coby.

Coby gave them a somewhat awkward look, and then freed Cabaji's limbs and he fully embraced Alvida.

"I guess, I'll leave you alone for a moment." said Coby, turning a bit pink. "I'll be back in a minute."

He closed the door behind him, but Alvida though she had seen him stare at Cabaji for a moment with a look of longing, even envy perhaps, but she dismissed it.

As soon as Coby had left, Alvida found herself again seized by Cabaji's strong arms as kissed her.

"I was so worried about you." he said once they broke apart. "I was going to murder those bastards for how they were treating you, but they had me pinned to the floor too. You're not hurt, are you?"

He caught sight of her mangled and swollen wrists, and his eyes widened.

"Oh, Alvida." he murmured, gently taking them.

"It's alright, Cabaji." she said. "Coby has been taking care of me."

"Who is he?" asked Cabaji. "He talks about you so much, about 'the beautiful lady down the hall with the long black hair and green eyes.' I assumed he was talking about you, but I didn't press the matter because I didn't trust him."

"You didn't mention my name, I take it?" said Alvida, and Cabaji shook his head.

"That's good." said Alvida.

"But who is he?" Cabaji persisted. "He says he's got a way to get us out of this. Do you trust him?"

"Let's just say we've met before." said Alvida, smiling as she pressed a finger to his lips, and watching him blush as he did on rare occasions.

"I don't get it." said Cabaji.

"I'll explain everything once we're out of here." said Alvida. "Just promise me that you won't mention my name to him. He absolutely cannot know."

"Of course, _Milady_." said Cabaji, talking her hand and kissing it. Alvida blushed as she vividly remembered their first encounter on the beach.

_"Cabaji the Acrobat, at your service Milady."_

At that moment, the door opened and Coby stepped back in. Cabaji quickly dropped Alvida's hand and straightened up, looking embarrassed to have been seen kissing Alvida, even on the hand.

"You're so cute when you blush." Alvida whispered to Cabaji, making him blush even more.

Coby appeared not to have noticed, or at least, he was pretending not to have.

"Alright." he said, quietly. "Let me explain, about tomorrow."


	28. Chapter 28

**I appreciate those who are still reading. I know this has been a rather lengthy story, but our final chapter draws close! Even I can't believe it! I again implore your reviews and hope you enjoy the chapter. **

* * *

"Alright." said Coby quietly. "I'll explain everything as best as I can."

He deposited an odd array of weapons onto the cell floor before Alvida and Cabaji. There was a sword and a set of two pistols.

"This is all I could find." he said, apologetically. "I took the sword from the armory, and the pistols are mine."

Alvida picked up one the pistols and examined it carefully. It was only a little different than hers had been, but the inlaid sterling silver was quite attractive.

"Maybe you should keep the other." said Alvida, pushing him the second one.

"I can use the sword." said Cabaji, picking it up and looking it over. "I don't think you'd want to trust me with a pistol."

"So Coby." said Alvida. "You want to get us both out of here? In the middle of the execution tomorrow?"

Coby nodded.

"I have a plan." he said. "It's a little sketchy, but I've thought it over and I think it could work. But I'm open to any suggestions."

"Go on." said Alvida gently.

Coby took a deep breath and swallowed nervously.

"Alright." he said, staring straight at Alvida. "I'll put it bluntly. They're going all out for you, Miss. They're making it a grand style execution. Everything will be up on a big stage in the courtyard."

Alvida gripped Cabaji's hand.

"Are you at all, familiar with the proceedings of a grand style execution?" asked Coby, tentatively.

"Vaguely." said Alvida, running through various unpleasant forms of execution in her head and wondering which one she would have to face.

"Well," said Coby, now sounding very uneasy. "They take you up onto the platform and make you kneel there in front of everyone, and there are two Marines on either side of you, holding these long spears. Then after the official reads your sentence, they pull back the spears and they…"

His voice trailed off and he looked away.

"And they slit my neck open?" said Alvida, in a tone of grim nonchalance. "Wonderful." She squeezed Cabaji's hand tighter, trying to mask the torrent of fear she was feeling.

"But that's not going to happen!" said Coby, attempting to brighten up. "I'm going to help you both get out of there!"

He took yet another deep breath and began again.

"Alright." he said. "They're obviously taking the necessary precautions with seastone due to the uniqueness of your powers. Those spears will have seastone in them, and you'll of course be in seastone handcuffs."

"Well that doesn't give me much of a chance." said Alvida. "It's complicated how seastone works with me. Even if I wasn't in seastone handcuffs, the seastone in the spears could still cut my skin. And even if they were using just ordinary spears, so long as that I've got seastone locked around my wrists I'm vulnerable to ordinary weapons too."

"But you see, Miss" said Coby. "I have access to the armory, and I've gotten hold of the spears they had set aside. The two Marines who will be performing the actual execution aren't in charge of the selecting the method or the weapons, so they'll have no reason not to believe the spears aren't made of seastone."

"That's good," said Alvida. "But as I said, the spears will still hurt me because I'm being exposed to the seastone in the handcuffs."

"Not if I give you this." said Coby, holding up a small glittering object. It was a key. He held it out to Alvida and she took it, admiring it with interest.

"This is the master key." said Coby. "It will unlock anything within this Marine Headquarters. I stole it." he added, with a touch of pride in his voice.

Alvida was somewhat amused. She hadn't thought Coby capable of something like theft.

"Tuck it into the cuffs of your sleeves, and use it to unlock your shackles during the execution. It will be difficult, and you'll have to be quick about it. I know it's easier said than done, but you can get them off the ordinary spears won't hurt you, right?"

"Right." said Alvida, carefully tucking the little key into the cuffs of one of her sleeves. The plan seemed blissfully simple when spoken aloud, but Alvida knew actually pulling it off might not be nearly so easy.

"So what about Cabaji?" asked Alvida, in uncertainty.

"Do I get my head cut off too?" Cabaji asked, in mock eagerness. "This is such a cheery little conversation, don't you think?"

Alvida giggled, despite the situation.

"Only select pirate are executed in the grand style." said Coby, apologetically. "Usually those with a price on their heads. You'll…"

He stopped, evidently searching for the best way to state it.

"You'll be tied to a post before a firing squad." he said, finally.

"Oh that's great." said Cabaji. "And I thought I was going out in style. So how am I supposed to get free?"

"I can play for time and get over to free you once I am." said Alvida.

"That's what I had thought." said Coby.

"So I'll take one of the pistols, and you'll keep the other?" said Alvida, picking up one of them and tossing the other to Coby. "Just in case?"

Coby nodded and pocketed the pistol as Alvida tucked it into her coat.

"And I'll keep the sword with me." said Cabaji, picking up the sword and tilting back his head to slide the sword down his throat.

Coby gaped in astonishment.

"Wow." he murmured reverently.

"Oh, that's nothing." said Alvida, squeezing Cabaji's shoulder affectionately. "You should see all the things he can do."

"I'd love to perform for you." said Cabaji. "But this isn't exactly the time or place. And I'd need much more room."

Alvida laughed and even Coby smiled a bit.

"I don't think they'll check you for weapons," he added. "But it's going to be rough fighting your way out just the two of you."

"Oh, we'll manage." said Cabaji, putting his arm around Alvida's waist.

An awkward silence then followed, in which Alvida looked at Coby. He was willing to risk all he had worked for just for them, and for her, the woman who for two years had subjected him to abuse, hatred and relentless torment for no reason other than sheer malice, and the fact that his name had been Coby.

"Coby," said Alvida finally, breaking the silence. "Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?"

Coby nodded firmly.

"I'm sure." he said. "I don't care if I end up court-martialed or anything, I just want you to be alright."

Alvida felt even guiltier now. Tomorrow Coby would find out everything.

"So now what?" asked Cabaji, looking uneasy.

"Now we have to wait." said Coby. "Until tomorrow, that is."

"Do I have to go?" asked Alvida, gripping Cabaji's hand.

"You do, Miss." said Coby, apologetically. "I'm sorry."

Alvida stood up reluctantly, as did Coby. He began fixing Cabaji's limbs and feet back to the fetters.

"Hey, um… Coby." said Cabaji, suddenly in the uncomfortable silence that had followed. "I'm sorry I said you looked like a girl."

Coby looked up in surprise.

"Really?" said he said, looking taken aback. "Um….it's alright."

"Coby, would you mind looking away for a moment?" said Alvida, gently to Coby.

"Um…okay." said Coby, straightening up from Cabaji's ankles, averting his eyes and turning his back.

Once sure that Coby wasn't looking, Alvida pressed her lips to Cabaji's.

"Just in case," she whispered, stroking his long hair. "Things don't work out tomorrow. If we…"

"We won't die." said Cabaji. "I promise." He brushed a tear from Alvida's cheek. She hadn't realized she had been crying.

"I love you." she whispered. "So much."

Coby cleared his throat.

"Miss..?" he said tentatively.

The moment was over.

"You have to go." said Cabaji gently.

Alvida nodded, brushing the last few tears out of her eyes.

"Alright Coby." said Alvida, turning to face him. "You can take me back. I'm ready."

"Goodbye love." murmured Cabaji, gently in her ear. Alvida left him a final smile, and then allowed Coby to lead her from the room.

Coby took her back down the long hallway and back into her cell. He was fairly quiet, as he proceeded with the routine task of locking the chain back around her ankles. Alvida was searching for something to say. She wanted to tell him everything, to confess right now, but she couldn't find the words, or bring herself to.

"Coby." she said finally.

"Yes, Miss?" said Coby, looking up from the floor.

"I-I want to thank you." said Alvida. "Thank you for doing this for us, for me. Thank you."

She held out her arms to him. Coby looked at her a bit hesitantly, then took them. Alvida drew him close and hugged him, not the same as she would have Cabaji, but embraced him all the same.

"You'll be alright, Miss." said Coby. "I promise."

"I'm not worried about myself." said Alvida. "I'm worried about you."

"Why should you be worried about me?" asked Coby.

"Coby." said Alvida slowly. "I want you to know, that no matter what might happen tomorrow, no matter how much you will hate me, I want you to know that I care about you. And I also want you to know that for everything I've ever done, I am truly sorry,"

"I don't understand." said Coby. "Why would I hate you?"

"Just believe me Coby." whispered Alvida. "Please. Believe me that I am sorry, for everything."

Coby nodded and broke away. Alvida realized he was crying.

"Oh come now, Coby." said Alvida, brushing away his tears. "There's no need to cry."

"I don't understand any of this." said Coby, starting to cry even more now. "I feel like I've met you somewhere before, but you were different. Very different. Like a completely different person. But I can't figure it out. And tomorrow you'll sail off with Cabaji and I'll never see you again."

"You won't miss me." said Alvida.

"Yes I will!" said Coby, the tears now spilling freely. "Don't say that Miss, of course I'll miss you!"

He wiped his eyes on the back of his hand and was silent a moment.

"I should probably go." Coby managed to say. "My friends might be wondering where I am."

Alvida nodded.

Coby gently placed her hands back into the seastone and turned to leave but then stopped.

"Miss, I don't know who you are," he said. "But I want to thank you for the time I've spent with you over these few days. And I want you to know that whatever it is you might have done, to me or to anyone else, I want you to know that I forgive you."

Alvida felt as if a great burden had been lifted off her soul.

"Thank you Coby." she murmured, and Coby smiled.

"Goodnight Miss." he said.

"Goodnight Coby."

But as Coby left the now so familiar feeling of guilt overcame Alvida. Despite the fleeting happiness of forgiveness that Coby had left her with, she knew that the forgiveness of tonight would mean nothing the next day.

* * *


	29. Chapter 29

**My apologies for not posting on Saturday as I usually do. Circumstances beyond my control arose and I found myself unable to post. **

**This is also the first chapter where I give any reference to Alvida's last name. For any of you who might not know, her last name is "Queen," making her "Queen Alvida."**

**I shall tell you, that next week is that last chapter. I have done a bit of editing, and in my original version the execution spanned about three chapters, but have decided to merge and edit these chapters. The last chapter will be posted, and the epilogue. **

* * *

Alvida didn't sleep. She didn't want to and it would have been pointless to try. She hoped had Coby might be able to come and bring her breakfast in the morning, but was in for no such luck. Several Marines showed up in the morning, far earlier than Coby would have. With them, was the one officer in particular whose personality had reminded her so strongly of her former first mate. He was wearing formal uniform, and regarding her with a sickening expression of smugness and superiority.

"Well, well." he said, looking down at her from her position on the floor. "Your big day's finally here. And _I_ have the honor of performing your ceremony."

He gestured to the Marines behind him, and they set to work removing Alvida's limbs from the seastone chains. She was dragged roughly to her feet to face him, and it was all she could do not to wince in pain as her hands were twisted behind her back and into a surprisingly heavy pair of handcuffs. She could feel blood snaking down in between her fingers from the open swellings on her wrists.

"Has five days in here managed to _tame_ you, or do you intend to make a scene like you did before?" the Marine asked her, raising an eyebrow. He reached into his pocket and withdrew two long syringes.

Alvida backed away as he advanced towards her, the tip of the little needle dripping with serum. If they intended to sedate her again, she might be too weak to manage escaping.

"Hold her steady." the Marine instructed. Alvida found her body gripped tightly and none too gently by the other Marines. One of them grabbed a fistful of her hair, exposing the side of her neck.

"Please don't…" Alvida began, the needle inches from her neck. "I promise I won't struggle or anything. Just please don't…"

The Marine regarded her suspiciously, and then to Alvida's surprise replaced the syringes into his pocket with a shrug. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"But now what is this?" said the Marine suddenly.

Alvida's heart froze. Had one of the others discovered the little key or the pistol? She then realized he was staring at her throat… at her necklace?

"How pretty." he said, running a finger along the gold beads.

"Don't touch it." said Alvida, shuddering at his touch.

"Prisoners are usually removed of their valuables." he said, completely ignoring her and fingering the little emerald that was the center pendant. "It seems we somehow forgot to have a look at you."

Before Alvida could say anything else, his grabbed the beads and pulled. Only he pulled to hard. The thin string holding the beads snapped, and the little gold balls tumbled to the floor at her feet.

"My necklace…" Alvida murmured, staring at the little gold pieces in disbelief.

Cobyashi had given her that necklace. She could remember him slipping it around her neck, how it had been far too big for her, and how she had looked in the mirror and laughed, as he told her she was the fairest maiden on all the seas. She had then reclaimed it from the pirate responsible for Cobyashi's death, and realized with surprise, that she had never taken it off since then.

She held her breath, trying all she could not cry, as the Marine held up what was left of the necklace, a few beads dangling from the broken thread.

"Oh my, was that important to you?" he said in mock sympathy, bending down and scooping up the beads from the floor. "Oh well, it's not like you'll be needing it in hell."

"You bastard..." said Alvida, her voice half choked with tears.

"Shut up." said the Marine, slapping her across the face. He drew a knife and held it against her neck. "I can kill you right here. No one will care. Is that what you'd prefer?"

Alvida bit her lip, trying not to cry out in pain as the knife dug into her throat just enough to make her bleed.

He withdrew the knife and motioned to the other Marines. One of them locked a heavy iron collar around her neck which stung against the open wound. Alvida found herself blindfolded again, before begin dragged roughly out into the corridor by an officer leading her by pulling on a long chain running from her the collar around her neck. Alvida was nearly worried her might snap her neck if her continued to yank it in such a manner. She could only be grateful that her feet were not shackled in any way, and that the Marines had not searched her weapons and discovered Coby's key or pistol.

Her heart was pounding madly and she didn't want to admit to herself how afraid she actually was. About where she guessed Cabaji's cell was, the one officer instructed a few of the other Marines to retrieve him and meet them out where the "ceremony" was to be.

Alvida was aware of then led up several flights of stairs and down odd corridors as she staggered along. A gust of sudden wind told her that she was now outside. The blindfold was taken off her eyes and Alvida found herself looking at a large courtyard with a wide platform erected in the center and a set of thick posts set like a cross a few feet away. What looked like a small portion of the Headquarters was all gathered in an ensemble across the courtyard. Alvida realized that this obviously was not a public execution, and that she and Cabaji would have an easier time getting out with such a small number of Marines gathered.

She caught sight of Coby, his brilliantly pink crop of hair standing out among the ranks. She saw his hand straying to the pistol in his pocket, and could feel the one he had given her tucked within her coat.

She was then led up the small flight of steps to the platform. Out the corner of her eye Alvida saw Cabaji dragged out across the courtyard to the set of posts. His arms were stretched out across them and lashed with heavy rope, while several Marines holding rifles stood by at attention. Alvida felt sick with dread, and forced herself to look away, willing herself not to faint out of fear.

The two Marines who had been leading her removed the heavy collar from her neck and took up two long spears from a long wooden box on the platform. They then took her by the shoulder and forced her to kneel and crossed their spears at her throat. Alvida shivered. Could Coby be certain they weren't seastone? If she could only get the damned shackles off. She was groping for the key and managed to let it drop the palm of her hand, but finding the lock and forcing the key it was excruciatingly difficult and painful. The fresh wounds on her wrists were spilling blood onto her hands, making it difficult to grip the little key. It was agonizing, trying to find the miniscule little key hole, and her wrists ached as she tried not to drop the key. What if someone stood behind her and noticed? And what if one of the Marines had noticed the fact that their spears were misplaced and went to retrieve seastone ones? If that were the case, it wouldn't matter if she succeeded in getting the handcuffs off, the spears could still cut her if they were made of seastone.

_"So much could go wrong."_ thought Alvida, desperately.

She looked over at Cabaji, tied to the post before the firing squad. If she couldn't get free, or if those spears turned out to be seastone, he would die for certain too, as obviously she would have no way of getting him free if she was dead.

She clutched at the key as the officer stepped up onto the platform, giving her a smile that clearly stated how much he was relishing the fact she was about to die. Alvida told herself that if she did managed to free herself, she would have her way with him before escaping.

But there was another issue plaguing her, and that was Coby. What role would he play in this affair once the truth was learned?

The full weight of the secret she had kept fell upon her, and she realized that she should have told Coby who she was from the start. And now, within a matter of minutes, he would know who she was.

* * *

Coby was staring up at her. She was so pretty, the sunlight sparkling off her tangled black hair. He fingered the pistol in his pocket, hoping he wouldn't have to use it. He was though, prepared to fight if necessary to get her out of there. He'd do anything he had to.

But then there was, Cabaji. He was nearly a foot taller than he was and could stick swords down his throat. How could he possibly compete? Still, Coby could not completely rid himself of a feeling of resentment towards Cabaji.

He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.

_"I just want her to be happy." _he told himself, and if she was happy with Cabaji, then so be it.

A tall Marine official mounted the platform. Coby's heart was racing with anticipation.

Within a matter of minutes, he would know her name.

* * *

Alvida was still twisting the key, unsuccessfully, her wrists sore and still bleeding. She told herself that she got free she'd have her way with him before escaping.

But cold dread washed over her as she unwound a long gilded scroll and cleared his throat. Why hadn't she told Coby last night, why had she left it to this? Alvida turned to look at Coby, who was staring at the officer with a light of fierce anticipation. Alvida could tell he was waiting to hear her name.

She closed her eyes as her sentence began, now filled with nothing but pure regret and self-loathing, for what she had done to Coby.

"We, the Marine branch of the World Government…"

_"I should have told you everything."_

"…are henceforth commissioned her today…"

_"You have every right to hate me."_

"…to witness the execution thereof…"

_"Please believe me Coby."_

"…the condemned pirate known only as…"

_"I'm so sorry… "_

"Queen…_Alvida._"

Hot tears sprang to her eyes as he read out the three syllables that were her name. She could already picture Coby's face, stunned, shocked and betrayed. She didn't want to open her eyes and face him, but she did. She saw Coby just as she had pictured, his face a mask of horrified disbelief, and it cut her to the bone.

The officer was droning on about various crimes of piracy she had committed, most of them false or fabricated, but Alvida didn't care. That impenetrable guilt had taken hold of her. All she could see and think about was Coby. She knew that she practically deserved the fate before her, if only for what she had done to Coby.

She fingered the key still clutched in her hand.

Coby wanted her to die.

And Alvida knew that she deserved to.


	30. Chapter 30

"_I deserve this."_ Alvida said to herself, looking from the Marine reading her sentence, to Coby's look of horror. _"I deserve this in every way."_

She felt the key in her hand. She could simply drop it, let go, stop abusing her wrists even more, and wait for the spears to cross her throat.

But as she looked over the assembly, she realized that she didn't want to give them the satisfaction that she had given up. She wasn't the sort to simply allow herself to be defeated. She was stronger than that. She wasn't about simply surrender her life willingly to the individuals on either side of her.

She looked back to Cabaji, who was watching her with fierce hope and determination. She wasn't going to let the man she loved watch her die, and then allow him to be shot moments after. She looked at Coby, and despite his pained look of terrified shock and disbelief, she knew what she would now do.

She gripped the key harder, sticky with her own blood.

"_I might very well deserve to die." _Alvida said to herself. _"But I'm not about to."_

* * *

Coby found himself lost in a tangle of emotions he could not comprehend. It wasn't impossible. How on earth could the woman before him be Alvida? It made no sense. But when he saw her look at him, and the heavy expression of guilt on her hauntingly beautiful features, and how her eyes sparkled with tears in the sunlight, he knew he couldn't deny it. Lady Alvida, she was.

But what could he do? He had to stop the execution. But how, without giving away his position that he had helped them? What was he supposed to do? He couldn't even understand how he felt at the moment. He wanted to scream, the torrent of emotions flooding through him was unbearable. He felt used, hurt, enraged and above all betrayed.

Then suddenly, without warning, the officer stopped and raised his hand in signal.

Coby's mind seemed to stand still, as he watched the spears cross her throat, and then pull back, flashing against the sunlight. Coby's heart all put stopped. He closed his eyes. He couldn't look. Despite everything, the horrifying rush of sensations passing through him, the confusion, the hurt, the betrayal… he didn't want to watch her die…

"Tell me! Who is the fairest maiden on all the seas?"

Coby looked up in shock.

Alvida stood there triumphantly, the key and seastone cuffs, both soaked with blood and dangling from her hand.

* * *

The crowd gaped at her, as she surveyed them, reveling in her triumph. One of the Marines came to his senses and attempted to gore her through the stomach with his spear. It slid off harmlessly and snapped. He gaped at the useless handle stupidly for a moment, before Alvida had seized the other spears, and spun it expertly, knocking both of the Marines senseless.

"B-But your skin, those spears, I…" stammered the officer, staring at her in a mixture of confusion and horror, his smug demeanor completely vanished.

"Assumed they were seastone?" chided Alvida mockingly.

In a sudden movement she locked her arm around his throat and pressed Coby's pistol to his head.

"No one moves or he dies!" she yelled to the surrounding assembly. No one moved.

Alvida had no intention of shooting however, as much as she as she despised the individual she had in a headlock. She just wanted to buy more time until she could get to Cabaji. But then she realized what she wanted.

"Give me my necklace back." she hissed into the man's ear.

"You mean what's left of it?" he sneered.

"Give it to me." Alvida snarled, and the Marine begrudgingly reached into his pocket, and withdrew the broken string and remaining beads of the jewelry. Alvida snatched them from his hand before pocketing them herself.

"Now tell me." she whispered. "Who is the fairest maiden on all the seas?"

"Would that be you?" he said with heavy sarcasm.

Alvida dug the pistol into his temple making him cry out in pain.

"Tell me, you bastard." she whispered dangerously.

He swallowed, and then in a tone of utmost contempt and loathing, said, "You are."

"Say it!"

"You are."

"Now tell me again!"

"You are!"

"And who am I?"

"Alvida."

"Who?"

"Queen Alvida?"

"_Lady_ Alvida. And _what_ am I?"

"The fairest maiden on all the seas!"

But Alvida wasn't finished. She dug the pistol even harder into his temple and whispered, "Now tell _all _of them."

"You bitch--"

"TELL ALL OF THEM!"

Alvida closed her eyes in satisfaction as she heard his voice echoed across the courtyard.

"LADY ALVIDA IS THE FAIREST MAIDEN ON ALL THE SEAS!!"

Alvida smiled with pleasure.

* * *

Coby could only gape at her in horror, as he now say before him the side of Alvida he had always known. He had to intervene, but how? No one would move. Would she really fire that pistol, _his_ pistol if anything was attempted? But some part of him, a part of himself he failed to understand still felt compassion for her, only knowing her as, "Miss." Had it all been an act, a role to play, a charade, simply to gain his trust? Did she really mean what she was doing? Or was she only acting up there, playing for time? Coby shook his head. It didn't matter, whatever it was she was doing. She was no longer just "Miss." She was the one person responsible for those two years of misery and hell he had spent under her tyranny.

He slowly pulled the pistol from his pocket and took aim.

He couldn't hurt her, though. No, her powers protected her from that.

But he could hurt what she loved.

* * *

A gunshot suddenly split the air, and Alvida heard a cry of pain and shock. She spun around to see blood streaming down Cabaji's arm, his face gritted in pain. And then in shock, she saw Coby, his knuckles white as he clutched his smoking pistol, and wearing a look of triumphant hatred.

Alvida had stood still too long, stunned by Coby's sudden and violent course of action. The Marine she had been holding wrenched himself free from her grasp and bellowed to the ensemble, "NOW WILL YOU KILL HER?!"

Alvida found herself set upon by the party of gathered Marines. Though now, uninhibited by any form of seastone, Alvida could easily slip away from anyone who tried to grab onto her, and any attacks aimed at her just slid off. She reluctantly drew her pistol and began firing at her oncoming attackers, but not aiming to kill. Though she had to get Cabaji. If she could get him free he might be able to help her fight their way out if he wasn't too badly hurt by Coby's shot.

To her surprise, she found Cabaji suddenly fighting right alongside her, sword in hand and blood streaming thickly down his arm.

"How did you--?" Alvida tried to ask, above the chaos.

"Later." said Cabaji. "Get out of here. I can hold them off."

Alvida had no doubt in Cabaji and needed no second bidding. As he kicked up a thick layer of dust she pulled off her sandals and took off.

She was halfway across the courtyard when she felt a hand close around her wrist. Her hand easily slipped out of the grasp but she was knocked off balance she toppled over to find herself staring up at into the face of the Marine officer.

"You're not getting away, pretty." he snarled.

He locked his hands around her throat, and squeezed. Alvida knew she could die by strangulation, it didn't require him to break her skin, just have a grip around her throat. Alvida gasped and choked for air as her vision began to cloud. She thought of Coby and Cabaji, and what a miserable way to die this was. Everything was going dark as his unrelenting hands continued to crush her windpipe.

"LET GO OF HER YOU BASTARD!"

Alvida heard a scream and felt the hands suddenly release their grip on her throat. She sat up, gasping for breath just in time to see Cabaji's sword run straight through the body of the Marine officer.

"Let's get out of here." Cabaji said, grabbing Alvida by the wrist, and she took off with him leading.

Once they were clear of the courtyard, they found themselves in a tiny and ornate garden filled with the little chirps of crickets and bamboo fountains. Everything seemed to be trickling.

"How serene." said Alvida softly, and then she sank into Cabaji's arms, exhausted from fighting.

"That was too close." said Cabaji, supporting her. "But what hell was wrong with Coby? Why the hell did he shoot me?" He held up his still bleeding arm.

"I'll explain everything about Coby once were out of here." said Alvida, feeling horribly guilty. "How did you get free after he shot you?"

"The bullet nicked through the ropes and I was able to pull my one arm free." said Cabaji. "Then I could get my sword then and cut the rest of them."

"Let's just get out of here." said she said taking a deep breath. "We're not in the clear yet. We need to get a ship out of here."

Cabaji nodded, and they both made for the gates when Alvida, fatigued and now drained of energy, staggered and was about to fall when Cabaji caught her. He picked her up in his arms and continued toward the gate.

"No Cabaji." said Alvida wearily. "I can walk. And your arm…"

"After you fought off nearly the entire assembly of Marines, while I stood around and watched, I think you're allowed to rest."

He kissed her gently on the cheek, and Alvida allowed herself to close her eyes in contentment. Cabaji kicked open the gates, and they found themselves in the port, staring in surprise at the ship that had brought them there.

"It's ours." Cabaji announced decidedly. "It brought us here, and now it's going to take us away."

Alvida nodded.

Cabaji walked up to gangplank and carefully set Alvida down on the deck.

"Hey! Our weapons are still here!" cried Cabaji in excitement, striding over to the mast where their weapons were lying. "Your mace and pistol, and my unicycle, but not my sword." he said forlornly. "Dammit, that girl must have taken it."

"You'll find another." said Alvida reassuringly.

She was exhausted, but they were safe and had their freedom before them. But she could not dismiss Coby from her mind. That look of disbelief, betrayal, and sheer hatred. After all he had done for her, he had risked all he had worked for to help the one person he hated more than anything. She knew could never redeem herself in Coby's eyes, he would always hate her now. Her conscience ached with guilt as she watched Cabaji ready the sail and prepared to sail away and leave Coby behind forever.

It was a guilt, she realized she was going to have to live with for the rest of her life.

"ALVIDA!"

Alvida bolted upright and stared down to see Coby standing at the gangplank.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" yelled Cabaji. "Were you on our side or not? You could have killed me!"

"I was aiming to!!" Coby screamed in defiance.

Cabaji made to stride down the gangplank, but Alvida put out a hand to stop him.

She instead, descended to long wooden plank to face Coby, standing there with that terrible expression of betrayal and hatred. There was a deep gash across the side of his forehead, and a thin trickle of blood was dripping down the side of his face. Had it been friendly fire, in the midst of all that dust and confusion? Or had Cabaji been unable to see…?

"Coby, you're hurt." she murmured, reaching out at in concern.

"Don't touch me!" yelled Coby, slapping her hand away.

Alvida withdrew her hand.

He stared back at her, his eyes glassy, but when he spoke his voice was firm.

"Why, Alvida? Why?"

Alvida took a deep breath.

"Coby," she began. "You have every reason to hate me right now. I didn't want to keep secrets from you, but can't you see why I did? Why I wanted to distance myself from you? Why I was afraid of your affection? I didn't want you to develop feelings for me. I knew it would hurt you when you finally found out."

"But Coby," she continued. "What I said last night, that I was sorry, for everything I had done, I truly meant it. But you have every right to demand your revenge."

Alvida turned to the ship.

"Cabaji!" she called up. "Throw down a rope."

Cabaji gave her a puzzled expression. Then his eyes widened in comprehension.

"You can't Alvida!" he said. "You-"

"Cabaji." said Alvida firmly, cutting him off. "If you love me, then do this for me, and for Coby."

"A boy you barely know?!"

"I've known Coby much longer than I have you. Throw me a rope."

Cabaji hesitated, but then tossed a length of rope over the side of the ship.

"Thank you." Alvida murmured. She caught it, and then with shaking hands carefully began to twist and knot it.

"I know a lot about revenge Coby." Alvida continued, looking Coby straight in the eye. "It controls you. You lie awake at night and it's all you can think about. You feel that you can't be whole again until you achieve it. But it's not always that way Coby. It changes you, in so many ways. You become a different person, and you have to live your whole life with the decision you made."

She tossed the now finished noose to Coby who caught it, his eyes wide and disbelieving.

"It's your choice to make." she said softly. "I'm at your mercy."

Then she took off her hat and knelt before Coby, her head bowed. Her shaking hands stroked the feather of the Scarlet Albatross.

"Kill me Coby, that's what you want."

Alvida watched, as Coby stared from her, to the rope clutched in his hands, and back again.

_"How long have you waited Coby? Is it what you really want?"_

Coby's hands trembled as he held the rope, and then he dropped it.

"Alvida," he said, his voice breaking. "I can't. I…I…"

He paused, tears spilling from his eyes.

"I loved you."

Alvida had long since come to suspect this, but to actually hear Coby say it was quite another thing entirely.

She stood up and walked to Coby, tears now pouring freely from his eyes, far more than they had the night before, and she kissed him. Just ever so gently on the forehead, but Coby looked up at her, his eyes wide and he threw his arms around her. Alvida drew him close, embracing him as he cried for all she had ever done to him, but for hatred lost and love found. When he finally broke away, he stared up at Alvida with glassy eyes.

"You know who the fairest maiden on all the seas is, don't you?" he said, pausing a moment as Alvida stared back.

"It's you, Lady Alvida." he said. "You're the fairest maiden on all the seas."

"Thank you Coby." said Alvida, feeling tears of her own spill from her eyes. "Thank you."

She gave him one last kiss, and then turned to walk back up the gangplank. The sail was raised, and there was a strong wind. They were ready to sail.

"Goodbye Miss!" called Coby as the Cabaji raised anchor and the ship began to drift away. "Oh! I mean, Lady Alvida!"

"Goodbye Coby!" she called, waving to his slowly fading figure. "Goodbye!"

She turned to Cabaji.

"I still don't get it." he said. "Who is he?"

Alvida smiled, and pressed her finger to his lips.

"He was my cabin boy." she said, relishing the look of astonishment that crossed his face.

She leaned against the ship's railing and took a deep breath, inhaling that salty smell that she loved so much.

"Well, where we go?" she asked Cabaji. "What should we do?"

Cabaji put his arm around her, and they stared out at the horizon.

"I don't know." he said. "I really don't."

They were both quiet for a moment.

"We'll have an adventure." he said finally. "How does that sound?"

"That sounds so wonderful." said Alvida, embracing him. "But tonight, what do you say we break out the wine and dance the night away?"

She stroked his long black hair as he caressed hers.

"Like when we first met?"

"Like when we first met."

Cabaji swept Alvida up into his arms and spun her around. She laughed and planted a kiss on his lips. So much had happened since they had first met, all that time ago on the beach, when Cabaji had seen through her loneliness. Neither of them knew where they would go or what would happen to them, but as the ship rocked gently beneath them, as now locked in an embrace of love, they realized that it didn't matter.

All that mattered, was each other.

And neither of them noticed, the large bird with beautiful scarlet feathers, that surveyed the two of them from its perch above. And then realizing that the woman in its charge was now truly safe in the care of another, it departed.

"Cabaji," Alvida whispered.

"Yes?"

"Who is the fairest maiden on all the seas?"

"You are. You are, Lady Alvida."


	31. Chapter 31

Epilogue

The young boy sat alone in a small room. There was a great deal of commotion outside, mostly because of him.

He didn't care.

He had never felt happier.

He had no regrets.

"_He should be thrown out!"_

"_Court-martialed at the very least!"_

"_And he gave them weapons from the armory!"_

"_Captain Smoker will be furious!"_

"_We can't reach him. He's in Alabasta with Sergeant Tashigi." _

"SILENCE!"

A strong voice suddenly cut above all the rest, one the boy recognized.

"V-Vice Admiral." he heard someone stammer quickly.

"Allow me to speak with him." the voice continued. "I trust him completely, and I know he does not act without reason. He is a boy of sound judgment. I will speak to him privately."

"Yes sir." said another voice.

The door opened and the imposing figure of Admiral Garp strode in. The boy quickly jumped up and saluted him.

"At ease." said Garp, and the boy relaxed.

Garp sat down and sighed. The boy remained standing.

"You've seemed to have caused quite a bit of trouble." he said, surveying the boy. "They're saying that you helped two pirates to escape their execution this morning. Is this true?"

"Yes sir." said the boy calmly.

Garp sighed again. The boy could tell he was doing all he could to keep his fearsome anger in check.

"You're in an awful lot of trouble at the moment." Garp continued. "I am not completely certain what will happen, but I will see to it that you are not thrown out of the Navy. You've worked far too hard for that."

"Thank you sir."

Garp paused a moment, and then looked the boy straight in the eye.

"Coby, why did you do this?"

Coby returned Garp's fierce gaze, unflinching and answered without hesitation.

"For love."

**The End**

* * *

**Final Author's Note: **

**I find it hard to believe that "Fairest" over. **

**I understand that there may be some confusion as to where chapter 233 of One Piece lies in this story. The first drafts of "Fairest" had this chapter, but in the end I decided to deliberately leave it out, in case I wanted to continue "Fairest" with a sequel. That way I would have a chapter of information from the manga to build off of. It is fairly self-explanatory though, Alvida and Cabaji sail around, and will eventually meet up with Buggy in the Grand Line somewhere. **

**If in any way at all, I have managed to change your opinion of either Alvida or Cabaji through this story, please tell me. And if anyone has anything they want to ask in light of the completion of "Fairest" please tell me. It has taken up now almost two years of my life, and I am so happy I could share it with you. **

**And on a final note, I know in the manga Alvida technically says, "What is the most beautiful thing on the seas?" or "Who is the most beautiful woman in the world?" but when trying to decide on a title for the story, I didn't think "Most Beautiful" was that great of a title, so I changed what she said to "Fairest." **

**And now, I would like to thank everyone who has read "Fairest." It sure takes something to follow a fanfiction about a character like Alvida from beginning to end, and I cannot tell you how grateful I am to the people who have. Thank you. **


End file.
